Maybe Someday, Maybe Forever
by insaneantics21
Summary: The continuation of Quinn's quest to capture Rachel's heart.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: **I was pretty psyched about this when I first started writing it (back in December) but then EVERYONE started writing stories with similar plots and then I got less and less excited about it which I think is why it took me so damn long to finish it. Chances are you've read several stories that are extremely similar to this so I apologize for the redundancy. Please don't rip me apart for it.

Also, I began writing this before we knew anything about the Back 9 so Jesse St. James does not exist.

I'm aware that I posted this part already but it's been in December and I wanted to make sure that it was read before everyone moved onto Chapter 1. It's the prologue and if you hadn't read it then jumped into the story then you would've been thoroughly confused for a few chapters. Feel free to skip it if you already read it.

* * *

**-Prologue-**

Quinn Fabray couldn't help but look at Rachel Berry when they were performing. She didn't look at her with hate or jealousy or even a hint of dislike. She looked at her with longing. Longing and love and need. She usually ended up crying by the end of the song. One good thing about the pregnancy was that she could blame the hormones on her sporadic tears. It had never been never the hormones, though.

She couldn't blame hormones on being fourteen years old at a sleepover and accepting the dare to kiss Rachel. She couldn't blame the hormones when she felt the strongest tug at her heart she'd ever felt when Rachel's lips touched hers. She couldn't blame the hormones when she cried almost every single day since then because all she wanted to do was kiss the brunette again.

She joined the Cheerios to try and fill the void. She started dating the quarterback of the football team to have someone to kiss. She got drunk and had sex with Puck because nothing else was working. She accepted Coach Sylvester's mission to destroy glee club only to get closer to the object of her affection.

Quinn's definition of affection was relatable to the boy who stuck gum in the girl's hair in elementary school because he liked her except Quinn was ten times worse. She insulted and yelled at Rachel incessantly to suppress the constant urge to tell the brunette that she was head over heels, undeniably, completely and totally in love with her. It was getting more difficult to do. Rachel was just too damn nice. _  
_  
It got beyond the point of Quinn wanting to tell her. When she joined glee it progressed rapidly from wanting to needing. She had to tell her. She waited after glee practice and caught her. She pulled Rachel to the corner of the room farthest from any doors or possibility of escape. Rachel looked up at her. Those dark brown eyes melted Quinn's heart. She could tell Rachel was scared. She hated that look. Loathed it. Quinn knew she was the reason for it and it absolutely ripped her apart. Knowing that she had instilled that much fear in the diva was enough to make her want to fall off the face of the Earth at that moment.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Rachel."

Rachel just continued looking up and staring.

"Would you feel better if I sat down? Maybe a little less scary?"

Quinn grabbed a chair and sat down, Rachel did the same.

"Is this a set up for something? Am I going to get slushie dumped all over me?"

"No…I…I just wanted to talk to you."

"About Finn?"

"Not exactly."

Quinn smiled a little at Rachel's curious look. The blonde took a deep breath. This was it. She had to do it.

"I'mkindofinlovewithyouandIdon'." Her confession sounded like it was in a foreign language even to herself.

"Wh-what? Were you even speaking English?"

Quinn sighed. "I said that I'm in love with you. I don't know how it happened but I just had to tell you."

"Oh. Well…I…okay."

Quinn tried to decipher Rachel's reaction to her confession but the expression on the singer's face was just blank.

"Say something, Rachel…please."

Rachel stood. Her blank face turned to one Quinn hadn't ever seen. It was this horrible, horrible mix of disappointment, anger, and pure hurt. "You've tortured me every single day since freshman year, Quinn! You've insulted me and ruined I don't know how many of my outfits…and now you tell me that you're in love with me?!"

"I'm so sorry…"

"How do I know that? You've either been lying to me for the last two minutes or lying to me for two years."

"I couldn't…"

"No. You don't get to talk, I get to talk. You've made my life a living _hell_, Quinn Fabray. I tried, I really tried to give you chances and you've done nothing but turn around and disappoint me."

Quinn honestly wanted to crawl under a rock and just die. Seeing the look on Rachel's face along with the words the brunette spoke it hit Quinn for the first time just what she'd put the girl through.

"So let's assume that what you're saying to me right now is true. You're in love with me. Not only is there no way I could or would ever return those feelings, I'm pretty sure I feel the exact opposite. I stick up for you and I am civil to you for the sake of glee club and because I don't want to be like you. I don't want people to feel how you've made me feel."

Quinn did nothing but stare at the floor and cry. She deserved everything Rachel said. When she did finally look up, Rachel was looking at her. There was a hint of sorrow in her eyes; almost regret for what she had said to the cheerleader. Almost.

"I just couldn't hide it anymore. It was killing me, Rachel."

"I'm sorry Quinn but I can only forgive so much. I'll still be civil to you and I'll do what I think is right if a situation arises that involves you and your dignity but I don't ever see myself coming anywhere close to feeling about you how you claim to feel about me."

Quinn nodded. "I understand," she whispered.

Rachel picked up her bag and left Quinn in the choir room alone, crying.

Quinn stopped throwing insults at Rachel. She yelled at anyone that went near the brunette with a slushie in hand. She still stared at Rachel when she sang. Rachel would glance at her briefly every now and then. Quinn knew that Rachel was wondering when it would end; when Quinn would stop being nice and go back to terrorizing her. Quinn didn't. She was determined not to. She thought maybe if she tried harder to change then Rachel would love her someday. Maybe someday.


	2. Chapter 1

**-Chapter 1-**

It started slowly. Quinn stopped spitting insults. People stopped tossing slushies at Rachel because they knew they would have to endure the wrath of Quinn, the hormonally charged ex-cheerleader who was capable of ripping them apart not only socially but possibly physically as well. Despite this, Quinn got no further in her quest to get closer to Rachel. It was a month before they spoke to each other again and it wasn't even a conversation they were having alone. It was merely Quinn suggesting the glee club go out for pizza after rehearsal one afternoon and Rachel stating she had dance practice.

Quinn decided she had to try harder. So, a week after suggesting pizza, she followed Rachel out of the choir room after practice and through the halls of McKinley High. The blonde knew something wasn't right when Rachel didn't head for the front door, or her locker, or even a bathroom. She just made circles around the hallways going up and down stairs as if she were lost. Quinn started becoming agitated and tired, her ankles were sore and she was out of breath when they went up the same two flights of stairs for the third time. Finally, Rachel ducked into an empty classroom. Quinn followed her and peeked around the doorway to see Rachel sitting on the teacher's desk staring at her.

"I could report you for stalking or harassment, you know?"

Quinn stepped inside the classroom. She fidgeted with her hands and the hem of her shirt and sighed.

"But," Rachel said, "you are obviously determined to talk to me and since I've tired you out enough to where I know you can't outrun me should I decide to leave at any point in the conversation, you may proceed."

"I was…I was just wondering if you'd thought about what I told you."

"What would you think about, Quinn? Over a year of slushie to the face and being insulted not only in person but through vicious comments on MySpace, or two minutes of confession?"

"Well you…you're always so positive…"

"None of the aforementioned experiences are ones I would consider positive."

It stung. Rachel's words stung and they stung deep.

"I'm trying, Rachel."

"I see that but the fact is I'm not interested."

"Would you be if I'd never done anything horrible to you? If I'd never thrown a slushie or insulted you…could you love me?"

"I prefer not to focus on the 'what ifs' of life."

"Please, Rachel! Give me _something_!" Quinn begged.

Rachel hopped off the desk and walked up to Quinn, mere inches separated their bodies. Rachel held onto Quinn's bare forearm with one hand and looked up at the cheerleader.

"Perhaps we can try to be friends."

"I don't want to just be your friend…"

"I'm aware of that but it's either that or nothing."

"P-please Rachel…just…like…just a kiss? That's all I want." The offer sounded strange, even to Quinn, but she was sure that maybe just a kiss would either get her to move on or possibly make Rachel feel something.

Rachel stepped back and sighed. She stared at the floor in thought for a few moments before stepping forward again.

"If you absolutely insist then this is my offer. I will kiss you and it will be the only time, Quinn. After this, you move on. We'll never speak of it to each other or anyone else, ever. It will happen, I will leave, and you will move on."

Tears cascaded down Quinn's cheeks and she nodded. She closed her eyes and she felt Rachel's breath on her lips for a moment before the strawberry flavored lips of the singer pressed against her own. Quinn's hand settled on Rachel's hip and she held on tight for those brief seconds where the world ceased to exist and it was just her and Rachel Berry. When Rachel pulled away Quinn still held on tight and her eyes remained shut.

"Please don't go," the cheerleader whispered. "Stay with me, Rachel. I'll do anything…Please stay with me…" she pleaded as if Rachel was about to slip away into nothing.

Rachel stepped back and Quinn heard shuffling then footsteps. She heard Rachel stop at the door and her shoes squeaked when she turned back slightly.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Quinn."

When Quinn opened her eyes and turned around Rachel was gone. She got to the classroom door in just enough time to see the brunette round the corner of the hallway.


	3. Chapter 2

**-Chapter 2-**

Quinn thought about that kiss every moment of every day up until sectionals. When Finn found out the true paternity of the child Quinn was carrying the blonde's life completely crashed down around her. Finn gave her a week to find somewhere else to live. Mr. Schuester left his wife leaving Quinn without parents to adopt the baby.

She couldn't live with Puck, she'd kill him. After what had happened with Finn none of the other Glee kids seemed inclined to give her the time of day let alone let her live with them. Even Brittany and Santana were a little stand offish. Only one person dared be nice to her and it was the single most unexpected moment in Quinn's life when Rachel sat down next to her and told her that it was she who had spilled the secret about the paternity of the father. Surprisingly, Quinn wasn't enraged. It wasn't because she was in love, it was because she was glad that she had no more secrets. At least not to Rachel.

Quinn packed up her things from Finn's house. It had been four days. She still had nowhere to go. She walked down the hall to Finn's room and lightly knocked on the open door. He looked up from his Xbox and glared at her.

"Can I borrow your cell?" Quinn asked quietly. When her parents said they were going to cut her off, they meant it. Her cell phone stopped working an hour after she left their house.

Finn tossed her the phone and she nodded appreciatively before going back to her room. She scrolled through his contacts before finding the number she needed and she hit "call". It rang three times before Rachel's voice came on the other end.

"Hello Finn, I wasn't expecting you to …"

"It's Quinn."

"Oh. Hello."

"Um…I…Rachel…can I ask you something? Completely hypothetical?"

"I suppose," Rachel sighed.

"So…say a friend of yours got kicked out of their house and needed a place to stay, what would you do?"

"Hypothetically?"

"Of course."

"Hypothetically, has this friend tortured me since freshman year and recently professed her undying love for me?"

"Possibly," Quinn whispered. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have even…"

"Well, hypothetically, I would tell her to give me fifteen minutes to talk to my dads and then I'd have one of them drive to Finn's house to pick her up and she could stay in the guest room until other arrangements have been made."

"Really?"

"I'm not a bitch, Quinn. I know no one else will let you stay with them and I'm not about to be responsible for having a pregnant girl sleep on the street, it could come back to haunt me when I'm famous. Not to mention the fact that you're the third strongest female in glee club and it's the middle of November. The extensive exposure to the cold air could be harmful to the baby and your vocal cords."

"Thank you, Rachel. You know, hypothetically." Quinn smiled a bit.

"We'll discuss the rules when you get here. I'll see you in a bit."

"Okay. Bye."

"Bye."

And so, Quinn took her bags downstairs and waited in the living room until there was a knock on the door. Quinn said a soft goodbye to Finn's mom and one of Rachel's dads took her bags and loaded them into the black SUV parked outside Finn's house. Quinn sat in the back seat, Rachel and her "Daddy" up front. The ride to Rachel's house was silent. When they pulled into the driveway Quinn hopped out of the vehicle and reached for her bags but Rachel's "Daddy" grabbed them.

"No heavy lifting for you, Miss Fabray," he said.

"Thank you Mr. Berry."

"It's Jim, sweetie." Jim was tall and dark and had an absolutely loveable air about him. Quinn was certain, even without having met Rachel's other dad, that if the diva wanted something that Jim was the one she went to first.

"Daddy, it's cold!"

Jim shook his head and headed up the walkway following Rachel. Quinn followed them both into the house. She was greeted with a warm feeling and the smell of cinnamon. She already loved the house. It was so much different than the one she'd lived in for the first sixteen years of her life. The furniture wasn't all antiquities but it wasn't brand new. It looked comfortable and inviting. The atmosphere was relaxed and the tension in her shoulders that had been there for most of her life lessened considerably.

To her left was a red loveseat facing a fireplace on the outside wall and an upright piano up against the wall shared with the kitchen. To her right was a blue couch and two matching armchairs, the couch facing a TV and a doorway leading to a hallway next to it. A staircase on the far right wall led upstairs. There were pictures lining the walls, the majority of them of Rachel throughout various stages of her life.

"Dad, we're home!" Rachel called out. She took off her jacket and tossed it over the arm of the couch.

Rachel's other dad came in from the kitchen and nodded at Quinn. He was short and didn't have much of his hair. He looked at Quinn carefully over the rim of his glasses. She smiled politely even though she saw the look in his eyes that told her he had probably been the one to hold Rachel multiple times over the last few years as she cried about the horrible girl that tortured her in school.

"Dad, this is Quinn. Quinn this is my dad, Chuck."

"It's nice to meet you," Quinn almost-whispered. She was slightly terrified that Chuck was going to shove her back out the door she just came through, all the while describing in vivid detail exactly all the pain Quinn had caused his daughter.

"You can get your things settled in the guest room upstairs then come back down and we'll talk," was all he said before turning to Rachel.

Quinn was led up the stairs by Jim. The two left Rachel and Chuck whispering about who knows what as they ascended the staircase. Quinn instantly knew which room was Rachel's when they passed it, it was straight across the hall from the staircase, and there was a large gold star on the door with Rachel's name on it. Quinn's room was at the end of the hallway, she and Rachel would have to share a bathroom that was between the two bedrooms but the bedroom was all hers. Jim left as she put her things away in the dresser and set her laptop on the desk and hung the rest of her clothes in the closet. She took a deep breath before heading back downstairs. Voices from the kitchen indicated that was where she needed to be and the room fell dead silent when she entered. Jim stood and wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her to one of the four chairs at the small kitchen table.

"Would you like some tea?" he asked.

"No, thank you," Quinn whispered.

Chuck spoke first. Quinn was still slightly terrified. "I just want to preface this by saying that I am not entirely sure that any of this is a good idea."

"Honey, Quinn has just been through a very stressful time and I think we ought to give her a little bit of time to get adjusted before we determine if the situation is a good or bad idea."

"No, it's okay," Quinn said. "I was horrible to Rachel and I don't deserve for her to even speak to me let alone have you open up your home to me. But believe me, please, I've been working really hard at changing and being a better person."

"We know," Jim said. "We know the whole situation."

"All of it?"

"All of it," Rachel said.

"I'm slightly surprised I'm still alive," Quinn said.

Jim chuckled and Chuck stayed stoic. Quinn made a mental note to ask Rachel if there was a gun in the house anywhere.

"Rule number one," Chuck said when Jim stopped chuckling. "We demand nothing but respect for _all_ members of the household. No name-calling or tossing frozen drinks anytime or anywhere. Rule two, curfew is at ten o'clock on weekdays, eleven on weekends. Rule three, tantrums and diva-fits are to be thrown in one's own bedroom with the door shut."

Rachel looked down at the table. Quinn smiled.

"Everyone pulls their own weight," Chuck continued. "As long as you're part of this household you'll have chores to do, just like the rest of us. I'll amend the chart first thing in the morning and make sure yours are suitable to fit your condition."

Quinn nodded.

"I think that's it for the basic rules. I know Rachel has a few things she wants to go over with you. Do you have any questions?"

Quinn shook her head. "I do want to thank you though. I know you didn't have to do this and after what I've put Rachel through I'm sure you didn't want to but I promise I'll pull my weight and I'll follow the rules. Whatever you ask of me, I'll do it."

Rachel smiled. "Welcome home, Quinn."

Quinn beamed.

"Rachel," Jim said, "why don't you give Quinn the grand tour and make sure she knows where everything is while we finish dinner? We'll call you down when it's ready."

Rachel stood and so did Quinn. The taller girl followed her new housemate through the sitting room.

"Daddy's study is through there," Rachel said, pointing to the door frame next to the staircase. "And there's a half bathroom, too. It's the door just to the left. Laundry is in the basement, it's the door to the right."

Rachel ascended the stairs and went into her room. "If you want to borrow my clothes at least ask first," Rachel said, nodding to the closet.

"About that, I'm taking you shopping. Kurt will kill me if we're living together and I don't do something about the bright blue pant-suit."

"There's nothing wrong with a sensible pant-suit."

"If you're Hillary Clinton."

Rachel shook her head. She showed Quinn to the bathroom which was situated between their rooms. It was no different than any other bathroom, really. Rachel's pink toothbrush was in the holder, the towels and rug were pink, and there was a linen closet that contained more pink towels. Quinn got her bag of things from her bedroom and dropped her red toothbrush into the holder next to Rachel's and put her other things away in a drawer Rachel emptied out for her. Jim and Chuck's master suite was across the hall from their rooms and bathroom. They wandered back to Rachel's room and the pair stood in an awkward silence for a few minutes before Rachel spoke again.

"Dad will come around."

"I can only imagine what he thinks of me."

"Do you want me to lie?"

"I didn't think you could lie."

Rachel sighed. "He isn't fond of you. He went through the same kinds of things when he was in school and he just really relates to it. I guess that's why I tell him everything. Daddy's parents were okay with him being gay and they made sure he went to a high school where he wouldn't be picked on which is why he doesn't fully understand what it's like. He's very optimistic and believes anyone can change which is why he likes you."

"So if Chuck isn't fond of me then why am I here?"

"Daddy reminded him of what it was like to have your parents disown you. Dad wasn't kicked out or anything, he didn't come out until after he met Daddy. After that his parents just kind of stopped speaking to him. That's why when they did their commitment ceremony he had his last name legally changed."

"What did they say when…when I told you how I felt?"

"Daddy had suspected it all along, again that's the optimistic side of him. Dad said I should be more careful and watch more closely because he thought it might be some kind of setup."

"Is he going to toss slushie on me while I sleep?"

"Slushies have been banned in the house since December of last year."

Rachel's floor suddenly became extremely interesting to Quinn. "Sorry."

"He'll come around."

The first couple of weeks were tense. Quinn was on eggshells at Rachel's and at school. On the rare occasions she went out with Brittany and Santana she made sure she was home at least fifteen minutes before curfew. She still defended Rachel at school and she stuck like glue to the chore chart which for her was pretty much just doing dishes and keeping her room clean. Quinn and Rachel worked out a bathroom schedule based around Quinn's morning and evening sickness. They generally spent most of the time in their separate rooms except when there was something good on TV. Both girls discovered they shared a common love for the drama of _Desperate Housewives_. Quinn got Rachel addicted to Food Network, Rachel got Quinn addicted to reruns of _The Twilight Zone_ that showed late at night on the Sci-Fi channel.

Quinn discovered that Rachel wasn't nearly as infuriating at home as she was at school. Sure she was still a tiny bit obsessive compulsive about her MySpace schedule but she seemed to relax the moment Jim picked them up from school. Quinn quickly put two and two together to realize that it was Chuck that owned Berry's Furniture downtown. Jim was a family lawyer, specializing in adoptions and children's rights but he and his business partners were all family men and therefore made sure that their own families came first and that work never interfered with whatever was going on at home. He dropped the girls off every morning and picked them up every afternoon after glee practice which Quinn was grateful for since her father refused to give her the keys to her car when she had left with Finn.


	4. Chapter 3

**-Chapter 3-**

Thanksgiving was a small affair since Chuck's parents didn't speak to him and Jim's lived out of state. It was just the four of them with a small feast of the traditional Thanksgiving food. Quinn and Rachel were in charge of side dishes and Quinn only felt like smacking Rachel once when the day before, while planning out the dinner, the brunette insisted upon using canned cranberry sauce which Quinn thought was an abomination to Thanksgiving food. After a late night trip to the grocery store, Quinn started slicing and dicing and zesting and boiling the next afternoon producing her grandmother's recipe for cranberry sauce that made Rachel concede and declare that it was most definitely better than the gelatinous mass that came in a can.

When Hanukkah rolled around Quinn was excited for the first time in a long time about a family holiday because Hanukkah was something new for her. Christmas represented her parents and their snobby, rich friends getting completely sloshed on eggnog and having a "my horse is bigger than yours" competition involving their houses, business deals, and children. Quinn could only imagine what would be said this year when her parents threw their annual Christmas party and the youngest Fabray was nowhere to be found. They would probably say she got accepted to some elaborate all-girls school in Europe somewhere and didn't want to come home so she could fully experience the culture of a European Christmas or something like that.

The weekend before Hanukkah was to start Quinn helped decorate the house. There wasn't much but it still looked festive. She helped Rachel polish the Menorah which was placed on the mantle above the fireplace. For the duration of the holiday Rachel's gold star was replaced by a Star or David and there was one placed on the front door as well. Quinn mentioned in passing that even though Christmas wasn't exactly her favorite holiday she did always enjoy trimming the tree and she came home that Monday to find a full sized artificial tree set up in the living room with boxes of ornaments scattered about.

"I can't believe they actually kept all of this!" Rachel squealed. She immediately started going through boxes and picking out ornaments. "We haven't put up the tree since I was ten and found out there wasn't a Santa!"

"You believed until you were ten?"

"Well, no, but I pretended because it always made Dad happy to do the Santa Claus thing. After that we just started doing Hanukkah. I guess Dad thinks since you're here to even up the score of tree-loving people…"

"Chuck hates me," Quinn cut Rachel off. She found the box labeled 'lights' and started pulling out the strands and untangling them.

"He doesn't _hate_ you…" Rachel pulled more ornaments out of one of the boxes.

"I've been living here for almost a month and he barely acknowledges my presence, Rachel. To him I'm just some girl that tortured his daughter and is now living here against his wishes."

"It is the season for miracles, maybe he'll come around."

Quinn shrugged and plugged in the lights. She and Rachel spent the next half hour trying to find the one offending bulb that was causing the entire strand to not function.

"Rachel, you can't put that one at the top, it's too heavy," Quinn said when they finally got the lights working and wrapped around the tree. Rachel had eagerly started grabbing ornaments and began putting them on the tree.

"But it's a fantastic ornament, it should be showcased."

"It's dried yellow clay on a string."

"It's a work of art! I made it when I was two. Daddy told me every year that it should be put in the Smithsonian."

"Here, put the snowflake up there and that one can go," Quinn grabbed the mass of clay and reached around the back of the tree, "here. You can see it just fine…on the way to the basement."

Rachel stuck her lower lip out and widened her eyes. Quinn started laughing when Rachel expertly produced tears and the brunette threw a couch pillow at her. "That _always_ works!"

"With Jim, maybe, but not with me." Quinn smiled and secured the ornament low on the tree in the back. Rachel crossed her arms over her chest and diva-walked up the stairs. When she reached the middle she stopped momentarily to look down. Quinn was still smiling and she tossed the pillow up at the brunette.

"As long as you're up there will you at least put on the star? For once you have a height advantage, even if it is with the help of the stairs!"

"You expect me to come all the way back down there after that? Humph!" Rachel stood with her arms still across her chest and stood her ground. Quinn pulled the tree topper out of one of the boxes and hopped up the stairs. She laughed again when she was one step below Rachel and still slightly taller.

"At least help me?"

Rachel sighed and held on to the star. She and Quinn reached forward together and firmly placed it on the top of the tree. Quinn glanced over at the brunette and smiled. She leaned in and Rachel turned her head. Quinn caught a mouthful of hair and sputtered.

"We should finish decorating," Rachel said quietly. She pulled her hand away from the star and walked back down the stairs. Quinn sighed and reluctantly followed. They finished the remainder of the decorating speaking few words. Quinn moved the unidentifiable lump of clay to the top of the tree, right in front.

"What should I give your dads?" Quinn asked during the commercial break for _Iron Chef America_. They had progressed back to speaking again over the last twenty-four hours after the awkward tree decorating. The tree was lit up brightly, Quinn couldn't help but notice how the lights made Rachel look like she was glowing.

"You shouldn't give us anything!" Jim called from the kitchen. "If you do we'll throw you out!"

Quinn's eyes widened and Rachel laughed.

"They tell me the same thing every year."

"And don't think we won't do it!" Jim yelled again.

"I think we should do it anyways," Quinn whispered.

Rachel nodded. "They can't possibly throw us both out."

Dinner was hurried on the first night of Hanukkah, at least for Rachel and Quinn. Rachel whined when Chuck and Jim took their time putting dishes in the sink and cleaning off the table. When they finally joined the two girls in the living room Quinn watched excitedly as Rachel opened her gift from Quinn, the first season of _Desperate Housewives_ on DVD. Rachel's gift from her dads was two books of sheet music. Quinn smiled when Rachel hugged her.

"I should get started on the dishes," Quinn said. She started to stand but was pulled back to the couch by Rachel.

"You honestly think you're not getting anything?"

Quinn was completely shocked. She didn't expect for one second to get anything from the Berrys but she was given two boxes. Rachel gave her two cookbooks from her favorite chefs on Food Network and Jim and Chuck's box contained a brand new cell phone.

"We've got you on the family plan," Jim said. "It was Rachel's idea."

"Brittany and Santana were texting me every five minutes asking me where you were."

"I'll pay…"

"No, you won't," Jim said. "I know a guy." He winked at Quinn and her hormones got the best of her in that moment and she cried, holding the gifts to her chest. She cried harder when Rachel hugged her again.

The rest of the nights were filled with baby basics for Quinn as well as a gift card to the local maternity store and an organic facial kit. Rachel's gifts consisted of sheet music and DVDs and some new recording software and microphone for her laptop.

On the final night, after dinner, Rachel and Quinn excitedly bound into the living room. Four boxes, two for each girl, awaited the pair. The boxes were identical; they each tore into the biggest one first which turned out to be a television for each girl for their rooms. Rachel jumped up and down excitedly, Quinn stared dumbfounded.

"It…it's too much…you…you've already given me so much…" Quinn couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so…_included_. She cried when she opened the VCR/DVD player that matched Rachel's. Rachel was hopping around the room like a bouncy ball and Quinn finally smiled.

When Rachel calmed down and plopped back down on the couch Quinn nudged her and nodded towards the stairs. Rachel took the hint and leapt off the couch. She returned downstairs moments later with two neatly wrapped boxes. She handed one to Quinn and Quinn handed it to Chuck. Rachel gave the other one to Jim and both men looked completely stunned.

"It was Quinn's idea," Rachel said.

"Yeah but Rachel had a list! She picked them out!"

"You'll have to kick us both out!"

The men opened the boxes to reveal matching wristwatches.

"Girls, you really shouldn't have," Jim said as he looked over the watch. "This is too expensive."

"Oh please, Daddy. You were the one that taught me how to shop."

Chuck looked down at the watch and up at Quinn who was eyeing him nervously. He got up from his chair and leaned down to envelop her in a tight hug.

"Thank you, Quinn," he whispered.

The blonde cried into his shoulder. For the first time since stepping over the threshold of the Berry house she felt completely and totally accepted.

"No, thank _you_," she finally managed to choke out.

Quinn felt Rachel grab on to her from the side and she smiled when Rachel leaned in to her ear and whispered, "Happy Hanukkah, Quinn." She cried harder.

Christmas consisted watching the _A Christmas Story_, _It's a Wonderful Life,_ and _Miracle on 34__th__ Street_, the original at Rachel's insistence. They had a festive dinner, Rachel had been hinting at Quinn's cranberry sauce again and the blonde obliged.

Curfew was given an exception for New Year's Eve for Puck's party. Quinn opted to stay home because she was feeling particularly moody and nauseous that night. At one o'clock she got a text from Santana.

"_Q, Berry's drunk off her ass. Unless you want me to toss her on the lawn then you should be outside to get her when I drop her off."_

Quinn's jaw dropped and she shot a text back.

"_Are you serious?"_

"_Yes. 2 coolers & we lost count on tequila shots. She's totally trashed."_

Quinn met Brittany and Santana in the driveway and they helped hoist Rachel up the stairs and to her room.

"Tequilas soooo good!" Rachel slurred when she landed on her bed. She giggled loudly and Quinn shushed her.

"We'll see if you feel that way in a few hours."

"Whaddaya mean?"

"You'll see. Thanks for dropping her off, guys. Did she do anything I'm going to have to tell her about in the morning?"

"Santana kicked Puck between the legs when he tried to get Rachel to go upstairs with him," Brittany said with a smile. "He cried."

"I knew you'd kill me if he touched her."

"I'll kill him for trying in the first place."

"Noah! Noah was soooo nice! Didja know he's got a pet snake and he was gonna show it to me? Santana was soooo mean to hiiiiim! What _–hic-_ what if he wants more kids?"

"Rachel you have to be quiet, okay?"

Rachel laughed and Quinn clamped her hand over the brunette's mouth; drunk Rachel was about three times louder than sober Rachel which Quinn didn't think was actually possible.

"Oh," Santana said with a smirk, "there's a chance she'll never want to eat cheese and crackers again if she has a brutal hangover, just to warn you."

"Puck and his elaborate appetizers. Were there cupcakes involved anywhere?"

"There were brownies," Brittany said. "Santana wouldn't let me touch them though. She said they were special."

"I kept Rachel away from them. Hummel got into them though and _that_ was entertaining."

"Call me tomorrow, I want details. Right now I have to make sure Rachel doesn't choke on her own vomit while she sleeps."

"I got a video of it and, ew."

"I'll have to get used to the spewing sooner or later, S. Babies can't control that."

Santana shuddered and Brittany smiled. Quinn hugged them both and thanked them again. When her friends left Quinn retrieved Rachel's pink trashcan and put it by the side of the bed. Rachel passed out on her stomach with her head halfway off the bed. Quinn sat in her desk chair and waited. Around three Jim came in and looked at Rachel then shook his head and went back to his room.

By noon Rachel had sworn off all forms of alcohol for the rest of her life. Quinn kept a perpetual supply of cool washcloths in Rachel's room all day. The brunette came downstairs for dinner but didn't eat much.

"Quinn," Chuck said sternly halfway through dinner, "in your honest opinion, was the hangover punishment enough for Rachel?"

"I think she learned her lesson."

Chuck looked rather unsure, Jim only shook his head.

"You want some cheese and crackers, Rach?" Quinn asked.

Rachel's face drained of its color and she pushed her plate away. "Never again," the brunette mumbled. "Never, _ever_ again."

Cheese and crackers, and the word 'tequila' were officially added to the list with slushies as things that were banned in the Berry household.

"Thanks for that," Rachel said on their way upstairs after dinner. "You know, not telling my dads I deserved to be grounded for the rest of eternity."

Quinn shrugged. "It's not like you did anything horrible. But, I think you probably should've known not to drink when Puck is around."

Rachel nodded. She stopped in front of her door and Quinn continued down the hallway.

"Wait," Rachel said.

Quinn turned around and arched an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"Do you want to watch a movie or something? I've got _Funny Girl_ in the VCR already."

Quinn smiled. "Sure. I've never seen it."

Rachel's jaw dropped and she ran to the blonde and grabbed her arm. She dragged Quinn into her bedroom and pushed her toward the bed. Quinn hesitantly crawled to one side of it and attempted to push out the invading thoughts that she was in Rachel's bed and exactly what she wanted to do in the aforementioned bed other than watch a movie.

"This is just horrible!" Rachel squealed. "I can't believe I let you live here this long and didn't find out about this!"

"I'm…sorry?"

Rachel hopped up on the bed next to Quinn. "We have to watch it at least twice before break is over with."

"Why?"

"Shhh!"

Rachel hit play and Quinn watched the screen. She would glance over at Rachel every now and then and the girl was silently mouthing the lines. The second time they watched it, a few days later, Rachel would pause and spout off trivia about that particular scene, where it was shot, how long it took to shoot it, who the extras were, and why something was inaccurate. Quinn ripped the remote from Rachel's hands an hour and a half into it (only about forty-five minutes of the movie had actually been watched because of Rachel's pausing). They argued and Quinn ended up storming out of Rachel's room. She sat on her bed for fifteen minutes before realizing that Rachel, in her own infuriating way, was trying to make sure they had common interests they could talk about…and she decided it was kind of adorable.

Quinn went downstairs and grabbed a package of Oreos, jar of peanut butter, two glasses, and the half-gallon of milk from the refrigerator. She knocked on Rachel's door and the brunette flung it open and glared at the blonde. Quinn held out her peace offering and Rachel smiled. It took three hours to watch the rest of the movie.

...............

When the pair walked into glee practice together and giggling their first day back at school the entire club was astonished. Even Mr. Schuester was slightly shocked.

"Wait, wait," Puck said before they started practice. "Who wins the bet then? No one bet that they would walk in here without at least having a throw down!"

Quinn sighed. "You guys actually bet on us getting in a fight?"

"The rest of us can barely stand Rachel for the duration of glee practice," Kurt said. "We can't imagine being in a confined space with her for two weeks."

"I'll have all of you know that Rachel is a very pleasant housemate…when she isn't up at six in the morning to exercise."

"Why do you think you got earplugs along with your organic facial kit on the second night of Hanukkah?"

"I thought those were for when you decided to attempt 'Habanera' from _Carmen_ last week."

Rachel stuck out her tongue and Quinn giggled. The glee kids were dumbfounded. Before Puck had the chance to ask some perverted question he was cut off by Mr. Schuester handing out their new music for regionals.


	5. Chapter 4

**-Chapter 4-**

It was a bitter cold January evening, Rachel was at dance practice and Quinn was in her room working diligently on her history homework. Things were going quite well, Quinn thought. School was going well, she and Rachel were close, glee club was getting along. Everything seemed to be getting back to normal.

"Quinn!" The blonde heard Chuck call from downstairs.

Although she and Chuck's relationship had progressed by leaps and bounds since Hanukkah, Quinn was still slightly terrified of him. So, anytime she heard him call for her she was certain that this was the conversation where he told her it would be best if she left and never came back.

She abandoned her homework to rush downstairs to find Chuck and Jim standing in the kitchen, each behind a chair at the table.

"Sweetie we need to talk about something," Jim said, gesturing for Quinn to sit down. Quinn took her place at the table, Jim on her right, Chuck on her left.

"You got a phone call today," Chuck said. "Your doctor called, very concerned. You haven't had an ultrasound since your ten week."

Quinn swallowed hard and looked down at her fingernails and picked at them. "I…I can't afford it," she mumbled. "The first one Finn paid for and I'm still trying to figure out how to pay him back for it and I doubt my parents will pay for any of it and Puck…the only way he'll pay for it is by robbing a bank and I'm not about to have him get thrown in jail."

"Why didn't you talk to us about this?" Jim asked. "We can help."

"No. No, you guys, really. You've done too much for me already, I can't even begin to think about asking you for anything else. I just need to find a job."

"There are programs that can help you, Quinn. There are health insurance programs for expectant and single mothers, I can help you get signed up."

"And as far as a job," Chuck said, taking one of Quinn's hands. "One of my part-time sales associates at the furniture store is leaving in two weeks. You can work after school when you don't have glee club and on weekends."

"You have an appointment for an ultrasound next Tuesday," Jim said. "We'll pay for this one…"

"I'll pay you back. Every penny of it. I'll work it off at the store."

"Quinn, sweetie, we want to help."

"I know you do and you already are, so much more than I could ever ask. Please…I can't ask you to do any more for me than you already do."

Both men sighed. "Okay," they said in unison.

……………

By the middle of February, Quinn was completely and totally happy with her place in the Berry household. She couldn't help but smile when Jim's parents came to Lima to stay for a week and she was introduced her as their adopted daughter. When school pictures finally came back Jim and Chuck bought a new frame to put her 8x10 in and it was put on the wall next to Rachel's. Her sonogram pictures were on the refrigerator. She loved working for Chuck at his store. She was an excellent salesgirl; Chuck said he saw an increase in sales in only two weeks. Quinn could get anyone who was buying a couch to get the matching loveseat and recliner and half the time she could get them to buy the end and coffee tables as well.

Most importantly, Quinn was sure that Rachel was coming around to possibly, maybe dating. They spent almost every evening in Rachel's room doing homework, talking, or practicing for regionals. Rachel was helping her organize the baby things she had and they were figuring out how to arrange Quinn's bedroom to best accommodate the new furniture that would be in there soon. She swore Rachel was giving her flirtatious smiles in the hallway and while they watched TV together.

Quinn asked Chuck to let her off for Valentine's Day and he agreed. Her plan was simple, just ask Rachel out to dinner and show her a pleasant evening. The night before she and Rachel were in Rachel's room as per normal. Quinn looked up from her history book at Rachel who was diligently studying her Spanish notes.

"Plans for tomorrow?" Quinn asked quietly.

"No."

"Oh. Well would you maybe like…" Quinn was cut off when "Defying Gravity" started playing from Rachel's cell phone. The brunette picked up the phone and her eyes lit up.

"It's Finn," Rachel said with a smile. She answered the phone and Quinn pretended not to be interested.

"Hey Finn!" There was a pause and Rachel's eyebrows furrowed. "I'm not entirely sure…" Quinn glanced up and saw Rachel turn red and look at the blonde with her mouth slightly open. "Finn, I apologize but can I call you back with my answer? I need to check my calendar, it's possible I have a voice lesson." Another pause. "Yes, that sounds wonderful. Goodbye, Finn."

Rachel put her phone down and Quinn looked up.

"That was Finn…"

"I gathered."

"He…he asked me out. On a date. Tomorrow."

"Oh." Quinn's mouth went dry and she swore her heart stopped beating.

"Would you be okay with it?"

Quinn dropped her head back to her history book and furiously turned the page. "I broke his heart, doesn't matter to me."

"Well based off of my knowledge of teen romantic comedies I know there's some unwritten rule about dating your friends' ex-boyfriends and…"

"I don't care, okay?" Quinn growled. "Go have fun." The blonde slammed her book shut and stormed out of Rachel's room, she proceeded to follow the third rule of the Berry household after her bedroom door shut with a loud "bang". She pretended to be asleep when she heard her door creak open.

"Quinn, honey, is everything okay?" she heard Jim ask quietly from the doorway

Quinn only let out a quiet sob.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"You don't want to hear it."

"Because it's about Rachel?"

Quinn didn't say anything.

"Just because she's been my daughter longer than you have doesn't mean I'm going to pick sides, you know?" Quinn heard the smile in Jim's voice.

"She'll never love me," Quinn mumbled. "Finn just asked her out and she's going to say yes."

Quinn felt the bed sink under her as Jim sat down on the edge of it. "Rachel is complex, Quinn. She's been the center of attention since the day she was born and she isn't entirely sure how to deal with other people's feelings."

"She obviously knows how to deal with Finn's."

"I can't sit here and tell you that Rachel is going to wake up one day and be in love with you, sweetie. It wouldn't be fair to you, especially if it doesn't happen. I think you need to work on moving on, for your own sake."

Quinn sighed and sniffled.

"Daddy?"

Quinn immediately tensed up when she heard Rachel's voice from her door.

"Yes, Rachel?"

"Can I speak with you about something?"

Quinn's bed shifted and she heard Jim walked out of the room. Her door shut with a soft "click". Quinn hopped out of the bed and pressed her ear to the door.

"Can I go out tomorrow, Daddy? Finn asked me on a date."

"What does Quinn think about this?"

"She clearly stated that she was the one that broke his heart and therefore didn't care."

"I think she does care."

"Just because she's in love with me doesn't mean I'm not going to go out and enjoy myself with someone I like! Why are you taking her side?"

"I'm not taking sides, Rachel."

"I like _Finn_, Daddy! Quinn's feelings are hers to deal with, not mine. I don't look at her like that! She's my friend, that's all!"

Quinn opened the door, both Rachel and Jim snapped their heads in her direction.

"I want you to go, Rachel," Quinn said softly. "Go have fun, okay? I want you to be happy." She did want Rachel to be happy, she really did…she just wanted Rachel to be happy with her. She turned back to her room and shut the door.

Quinn decided to work on Valentine's Day since she had no plans. She cried on Chuck's shoulder when she saw Rachel and Finn walk by on their way to wherever. She cried when she heard Rachel's bedroom door shut at 10:50 that night. There was no school the next day and Chuck closed the store for the President's Day holiday; Quinn stayed in her room as much as possible, avoiding Rachel and the brunette knew it. Unfortunately that didn't work out so well when Jim and Chuck insisted that dinner was to be spent in the kitchen.

"Quinn, can you pass me the salt please?" Rachel asked.

Quinn slid the salt across the table without looking up.

"Something going on that you girls want to let me in on?" Chuck asked.

Quinn shook her head.

"It's nothing, Dad."

"Really? Because you haven't spoken to each other all day today and I can't remember a moment since Hanukkah when there hasn't been incessant chattering coming from the two of you."

"I'm sure Rachel's tired from her date last night. I didn't want to bother her."

"Rule three," Rachel mumbled.

"What? I was just telling the truth."

Rachel scoffed. "Well I'm sure you're tired from throwing a tantrum since you didn't even _have_ a date…"

"I would've had a date if some loudmouth diva hadn't let it spill…"

"Girls," Jim warned. "That's enough."

Rachel stood and slammed her hands on the kitchen table. "You didn't even want Finn! At least I care more for him than to just use him as a cover-up!"

"Rachel, sit down!" Chuck half-yelled.

Quinn stood and growled. "I do care about him!"

"I was unaware that sleeping with your boyfriend's best friend was an acceptable way of showing you care! And furthermore, if slushie facials are _any _indication…"

"That's it!" Jim thundered. He stood and towered over both girls. "Rachel, take your plate to the living room! Quinn, sit down!"

Quinn obediently dropped into her chair and stared down at her plate.

"Of course you're going to take her side!"

"I'm not taking sides, Rachel! Take your plate into the living room and finish your dinner, _now._"

"Why am I getting sent away from the table if you're not taking sides? She started it!"

"Rachel, if you want to continue arguing then you can go ahead and forget about seeing _anyone_ outside of school for a week," Chuck growled.

"Does that mean she…"

"Rachel, I'm warning you. One more word and you're grounded."

Quinn glanced up in time to see Rachel glare at her, pick up her plate and water glass, and storm out of the kitchen. Jim glanced down at the table and picked up Rachel's fork. He held it out towards the door to the living room and a few moments later Rachel stormed back into the kitchen, grabbed the fork, and stormed back out.

"I'm sorry," Quinn whispered. "Rachel's right, I did start it. I shouldn't have said anything."

"You probably shouldn't have," Chuck said.

"But it's somewhat understandable."

"Give her some time to cool off before you try to talk to her, though. We've learned that the hard way. It might be a while but you'll know when she's ready."

Quinn nodded and finished her dinner. Rachel practically threw her plate into the sink while Quinn was doing dishes and the blonde got soaked with dishwater. Rachel gave a satisfied smirk and diva-walked out of the kitchen.

When school resumed the next day, Quinn couldn't concentrate. She looked on at glee practice as Rachel and Finn flirted incessantly. She stumbled through the choreography and barely sang at all. She thought momentarily about quitting all together when Finn swept Rachel up in his arms during break and kissed the brunette.

Quinn slammed the door to the SUV shut that afternoon and crossed her arms over her chest. Rachel hopped in excitedly.

"How was your day, girls?" Jim asked.

"Wonderful," Rachel sighed.

Quinn grumbled. "Nauseating."

"Morning sickness bothering you again, Quinn?" Rachel asked, her tone drippingly patronizing.

Two could play this game.

"More like afternoon sickness. Started around three-thirty, it was the strangest thing. I think it might have been something in the choir room."

"Strange, indeed. Have you tried closing your eyes?"

"Yes, I did. Unfortunately the source was also noisy and it's hard to not look like a lunatic while sitting in a chair with your eyes closed and fingers in your ears screaming for it to stop."

Jim sighed. "Girls, can we please not do this again?"

The rest of the ride was silent.

Quinn and Rachel weren't speaking at all when regionals came two weekends after their dinner fight. They simply stuck to their bathroom schedules to avoid each other and dinner when Rachel was actually home and not out with Finn was more than uncomfortable. New Directions beat Vocal Adrenaline by less than one point from the judges' scores. Quinn, Rachel, Brittany, and Santana were sharing a hotel room together but Rachel was nowhere to be found after they left the performance hall. Quinn locked herself in the bathroom when Brittany and Santana started making out during whatever movie was on TV at the time. She sat on a towel on the floor and just let her brain run.

Rachel was still with Finn and she was _happy_ and _giddy_ all the time at school. It reminded Quinn of when they took the uppers for the mash-up. The brunette hadn't yelled at anyone and only had one diva walk-out moment since Valentine's Day. When at home she usually barricaded herself in her room and Quinn could hear her talking on the phone almost constantly. Quinn wished she could just knock on Rachel's door and they could sit down on the bed and do their homework together and watch movies and just be friends again. She hated not speaking to Rachel. It was almost worse than fighting. At least when they fought Rachel had looked at her. Now she didn't even do that. If they somehow ended up running into each other Rachel only shoved past her and continued onto her destination.

"Hey!" Quinn yelled when a sharp pain in her abdomen broke her away from her thoughts. She panicked when it happened again, then again. She threw the door to the bathroom open and Brittany and Santana broke apart and pulled the blankets up over themselves.

"I think something's wrong," Quinn said in a panic, not caring that she had most definitely just interrupted her two best friends in the middle of sex. "The baby…I…it hurts!"

Santana jumped out of the bed, obviously forgetting she was stark naked. She pulled on a bathrobe and left the room. Brittany wrapped a sheet around herself and sat next to Quinn with an arm wrapped around her shoulders. Santana returned a few minutes later with Ms. Pillsbury in tow.

"What's wrong, Quinn?"

"I don't know! I don't know! I've never felt anything like this before and I don't know what it is! It…it's too early for her to come! She's not due until April!"

The redhead pulled on her plastic gloves and put her hands on Quinn's stomach where the blonde indicated the feeling was centered, high and to the right. Santana disappeared again and returned with Rachel, Finn, and Puck. Rachel pushed passed the two boys and sat down next to Quinn on the bed and wrapped her arm around the blonde's back.

"It'll be okay, Quinn. Don't worry, it's going to be okay," Rachel whispered. Quinn leaned into Rachel and held on tight.

Quinn felt the pain again and Ms. Pillsbury jumped back and smiled.

"There's nothing wrong, Quinn."

The rest of the glee club was now in the hotel room, despite Mr. Schuester threatening anyone caught in a room where they didn't belong with a month of detention.

"How do you know? You're a damn counselor! I want to see a doctor!"

"Quinn the baby is just kicking."

"No! I've felt her kicking before. This is different! It hurts!"

"Are you having any other out of the ordinary symptoms?"

"N-no."

"Quinn, I assure you, she's just kicking. It's probably just harder than normal now that she's getting stronger. I have a book on it if you'd like to read it. Just don't touch any of the pages, I haven't had time to get them laminated."

The glee kids took turns feeling the baby kick; Ms. Pillsbury sanitized Quinn's stomach after each touch. When everyone finally left, Brittany and Santana settled back into their bed and Quinn and Rachel sat on opposite corners of theirs.

"I'm sorry, Rachel," Quinn sighed.

"Why?"

"Because…I was a bitch?"

Rachel sighed. "My behavior was less than acceptable, also. I apologize though I fully understand if you don't…"

"Apology accepted. Can we watch _Desperate Housewives_ together again? It's lonely without you."

Rachel smiled. "Of course."

Quinn fidgeted with the hem of her shirt. "Would you kill me if I told you I still…"

"I thought I told you to move on," Rachel cut her off.

Quinn shrugged. "Easier said than done."

"Quinn…I love Finn."

Quinn felt like a dagger had gone through her chest. She hopped off the bed and whipped the blankets back and settled herself down onto the uncomfortable mattress. She heard Rachel sigh and the bed shifted. She felt the Rachel's warmth as the brunette settled down next to her. She jumped when one of Rachel's hands gripped onto her arm and she felt warm breath on the back of her neck.

"Don't do this to yourself, Quinn. Please move on…please. I don't want to hurt you anymore."

Before Quinn had a chance to roll over and respond Rachel pulled away and rolled over away from her.


	6. Chapter 5

**-Chapter 5-**

It was the Monday after regionals that Mr. Schuester came into the choir room with his hands in his pockets looking at the floor. He looked up at Quinn and shook his head.

"We have a problem," he said. All eyes dropped on him and there was an audible gasp from Rachel. "I just got the definite dates for nationals. Quinn…Quinn I'm so sorry but the competition is two days before your due date."

"What?!" Rachel squealed. "You said that it would be scheduled in June, May at the earliest! That's April seventeenth! That's only a month and a half away!"

"I thought it would be, Rachel, I really did. I don't know why they scheduled it so early but they did." Mr. Schuester mumbled something that sounded vaguely like "Sue Sylvester" and a string of swears.

"We can't do it without her!"

"I know, Rachel. But you know what Figgins said, the school can't take the chance on if something were to happen with Quinn and the baby while we're in Branson. He said the only way Quinn could go is if the dates were scheduled after she delivered."

"It's okay, Mr. Schue," Quinn said quietly. "Find someone else."

"No!" Rachel shrieked. "No! We're not going without her!"

"There are only two ways we'll be able to do that. Either you get them to change the date or I go in and have the baby right now."

"It looks like I have letters to write and phone calls to make, then."

"Just find someone else to take my place, Mr. Schue. Surely there's someone in this school that can learn the numbers by the time you guys leave."

Rachel took on the conquest of changing the mind of the nationals committee. Every time Jim took letters to the post office Quinn saw that there was one to the National Show Choir Committee on the top of the pile in a pink envelope with a gold star stamp and Rachel's gold star return address label in the corner. Mr. Schuester found a replacement, some freshman girl with un-naturally red hair named Katie, just in case Rachel didn't succeed. Rachel was less than nice to the girl. Quinn was walking to her locker after school when she overheard Rachel in the Spanish room talking to Mr. Schuester and she couldn't help but smile.

"Mr. Schuester, please. Even with her center of gravity being thrown off because of the baby, Quinn is still better than that arrogant brat."

"She's all we have now, Rachel. Please, give her a chance."

"Have you actually looked at her hair, Mr. Schuester? It's distracting. At least Tina's blue highlights are subtle and can be hidden."

"Rachel, have you heard back from the committee?"

"No but I was only on hold for half an hour last night…"

"We don't have any other choice. Please, Rachel, as a personal favor. Stop making Katie angry and focus on the ultimate goal."

Quinn stopped going to rehearsals, opting to work at the store to pick up a few extra dollars. It was too painful to be at glee practice, she decided. First she got thrown off the Cheerios and now she couldn't go with glee club to nationals and it just _hurt._ To add insult to injury, more than once now she was awoken by strange sounds outside of her window and she looked out and saw Finn in the back yard of the Berry household and Rachel running out the door to greet him. She would watch with tears streaming down her cheeks as they would stand in the middle of the yard and make out, or on a few horrific Friday nights, they ran around to the front of the house and left in Finn's car and they went God only knows where to do who the hell knows what. Quinn contemplated telling Rachel's dads of the girl's activities since they were oblivious but she knew Rachel would probably never forgive her. She knew Finn would be good to her, at least he had better be.

Quinn tried a few times to strike up a conversation with Rachel but gave up after they ended up in Ms. Pillsbury's office after Spanish.

"You girls want to tell me what's going on? You were so close for a while."

"I asked to borrow Rachel's stapler and I got my head ripped off."

Rachel scoffed. "You only asked to distract me from Finn. Why can't you get over that I want to be with him?"

"I was not trying to distract you! I needed a stapler!"

"You could've asked Mr. Schuester. He has a stapler."

"You're being completely irrational."

"Girls…" Ms. Pillsbury tried to interrupt.

"Would you just let me be happy?! I want to be with Finn!"

"Rachel, I'm well aware of the fact that you want to be with Finn! Who are you trying to convince?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Rachel hissed.

"You keep bringing up that you want to be with Finn even though I already know you want to be with him. And you know I know that so who is it you're trying to convince of it?"

"Of course you would read into it. Just because you're in love with me…"

"Rachel, I'm not sure now is the time to talk about _that_ particular issue," Quinn growled. Her eyes darted to Ms. Pillsbury whose mouth was now slightly open, eyes wide.

Rachel crossed her arms over her chest and avoided Quinn's gaze. "Whatever."

"I won't ask you for your stapler again, okay?"

Rachel picked up her bag and walked out of the office. Quinn massaged her temples and took a few deep breaths. She waited patiently for the counselor to start asking questions.

"Is there anything else you'd like to talk about, Quinn?" the redhead finally managed to ask.

"If you have a brochure on being hopelessly in love with a girl who can infuriate you and make you weak in the knees at the same time I'll take one of those."

"I don't think I have anything for that but if you'd like to talk about it…"

"There isn't anything to talk about. I should go, chem test. Please don't tell anyone about this." Quinn didn't wait for a response before grabbing her bag and leaving the counselor's office and finding an empty room to cry.

Finally, with three days left until nationals, Rachel gave up on changing the dates. That day the glee kids did manage to drag Quinn to rehearsal and they surprised her with a baby shower. Rachel was just as shocked since no one had told her about it due to her inability to keep a secret even though everyone knew she and Quinn hadn't actually had a conversation since regionals. They didn't count the day Quinn asked to borrow Rachel's stapler.

Mr. Schuester bought her a baby swing that could later be converted into a high chair, Ms. Pillsbury put together a basket of baby-safe cleaning products and the glee kids gave her outfits, pacifiers, teething rings and a plethora of other baby basics. Brittany surprised everyone when she revealed her talent as a seamstress and gave Quinn a miniature replica of a Cheerios uniform that she had made by hand. When Jim picked the pair up, after loading all of the baby gifts in the SUV, he showed Quinn the brand new car seat he and Chuck had already installed.


	7. Chapter 6

**-Chapter 6-**

Quinn looked down at her clock, it was two in the morning. New Directions was scheduled to fly to the Springfield-Branson airport from Columbus later that day. Quinn was pacing her bedroom floor and rubbing her lower back when there was a knock on her door.

"Come in!" she growled.

Rachel opened the door and stepped into the bedroom. "Hey," she said quietly. It was Rachel's white flag. She stood looking down at the floor with her bottom lip between her teeth. "Listen, I…"

"You should be in bed, Rach. You've got an early morning."

"You're coming with us to the airport, right? To see us off?"

"Of course, but I can come back home and go to bed. You'll be on an uncomfortable plane."

"I wish you were coming with us."

"I checked online and they'll have DVDs. I've already got mine on pre-order." Quinn groaned when she felt another muscle spasm in her back and she resumed pacing and rubbing at the offending muscle.

"Take your shirt off."

Quinn whipped around and stared at Rachel who looked at her innocently.

"Not like _that_." Rachel rolled her eyes. "Just…Sit on the bed and take your shirt off."

Quinn didn't ask questions. Rachel shut the bedroom door and Quinn sat down on the bed and pulled over her head, baring her back but keeping her front covered. She felt the bed shift behind her and then Rachel's warm fingers pressed against her back and started massaging.

"Oh…my…_God_," Quinn moaned. Rachel's hands pressed right onto her muscle spasm and worked it out, Quinn was sure she had somehow landed in heaven.

"You're really tense."

"Carrying around an actual human – oh…right there – in your uterus can do that to you."

"I should've given you a back massager for Hanukkah although they're not as effective as an actual massage." Rachel's hands moved over Quinn's back and pressed in all the right places eliciting moans from the blonde's mouth.

"Your hands are magic, Rach. And I mean that in the least perverted way possible."

"It's not that difficult to learn how to give a good massage. Just replying to the instincts of the person you're working on is the best way to do it."

"Whatever it is you're doing it's amazing."

Quinn moaned again when Rachel worked out a knotted muscle she didn't even know she had until it was relaxed. After a few more minutes Rachel pulled her hands away and Quinn whimpered.

"Quinn…there's something I want to tell you. I mean, I'm not sure if you want to hear it or not but I feel as though I'm hiding something if I don't tell you…"

"If this is about anything to do with having sex with Finn you can stop right there."

"How…how did you know?"

"Why else would he be throwing things at your window and have you sneak out in the middle of the night?" Quinn hissed. She pulled her shirt back over her head and turned to face the brunette.

"I _told_ him you would hear it! You…you didn't tell my dads, did you?"

"You're allowed to leave your room, what do you think?"

"Thanks," Rachel whispered. "I know you could've easily told them."

"Just be careful, okay? I don't want you to go through this." Quinn held onto her stomach.

Rachel nodded. "We are. It's…I mean…with his _problem_ it doesn't really last…"

"Stop. Please."

"Sorry." Rachel sighed and there was a silence for a few minutes. "I really do care about him."

"Go to bed, Rachel." Quinn pulled the blankets back on her bed.

"Quinn…I…"

"Out!" Quinn pointed at the door and narrowed her eyes. "I don't want to hear it, okay? Just…please just leave."

At the airport the next day Quinn didn't hug Rachel goodbye. She just looked at her and dug her fingernails into Finn's arm.

"Ow! What the hell, Q?"

Quinn pointed her finger up at him and narrowed her eyes. "Finn, I swear to whatever God there is that if you ever hurt Rachel I will _kill_ you, do you understand me?"

"I…uh…"

Quinn dug her nails in harder. "Don't. Hurt. Her."

Finn nodded and Quinn released him. She hugged Brittany and Santana and watched the glee kids go through security. Jim and Chuck escorted her back to the SUV and she silently let the tears flow the entire way home while trying not to think about the sporadic bursts of indigestion she was having. When they finally arrived back in Lima, Quinn looked longingly at Rachel's door. She quietly tiptoed into the room and looked around. She hadn't been in Rachel's room in quite a while since they'd been ignoring each other. There were two new pictures on Rachel's nightstand, one of Rachel and Finn, the other of the entire glee club with their trophy after regionals and with one of Quinn's sonogram pictures stuck in the bottom corner. She furrowed her eyebrows at a strange sensation in her stomach and then it happened.

"Oh…oh no! Jim! Chuck! God…oh God!" Quinn started screaming when her water broke all over Rachel's bedroom floor. She panicked for a moment, knowing Rachel would be angry that her floor was ruined and that Quinn was in her room without permission. Her fears were cut short when first major contraction hit her like a brick. Chuck and Jim appeared in the doorway and looked at the floor and back up to Quinn who was holding her stomach.

"Not yet! It can't happen yet! She has to wait!" Quinn gasped. "Make it stop! She has to wait until they come back!"

"Honey, you kind of don't have a choice in the matter!"

"No, Chuck…no! She has to wait!"

"I don't know much about obstetrics, Quinn, but I am pretty sure that once your water breaks it's a no turning back kind of thing."

Chuck guided Quinn downstairs and sat her down on the couch while Jim got her hospital bag from her room. Chuck went back upstairs to halfway clean up the mess in Rachel's bedroom floor. Quinn practiced the breathing exercises she'd found online and tried hard not to panic too much. When Chuck gave the okay the three piled back into the SUV; Jim was in the back seat with Quinn and Chuck broke at least three traffic laws as he drove to the hospital.

"Call Rachel…" Quinn mumbled after another contraction. They'd been in the maternity ward for an hour.

"Their plane takes off in less than an hour, sweetie. There's nothing they can do." Jim dabbed her forehead with a cool cloth.

"She told me she'd kill me. Well, Puck told me that she'd kill me. She told Finn, Finn told Puck."

Jim nodded at Chuck and he took out his phone.

"Hi honey...I know, we agreed we wouldn't check up on you but we're at the hospital and…No, no sweetie nothing's wrong…Yes, Quinn went into labor…About an hour ago...About five centimeters…Yes, I am aware that's quite fast since it is her first child…Daddy is giving her ice chips…They're still about ten minutes apart…Rachel, the doctor doesn't stay in here the whole time, he's got other patients…I know Quinn's important…No, I will not go find him so you can talk to him…Rachel, he knows what he's doing…No, you can't talk to the nurse either…Or the orderly…The housekeeping staff won't know what they're talking about…Yes, the sheets were clean when we got here…Rachel, it's all okay…Hold on, I'll ask."

Chuck took a deep breath and shook his head. He looked at Quinn and the blonde was holding back a smile. "She wants to know how you're feeling."

"Tell her not to worry about it and to just break a leg tomorrow. Baby and I will be just fine and when they get back it had better be with a huge trophy."

Chuck repeated what Quinn said to Rachel and he talked to her for a few more minutes before finally hanging up.

"Everyone sends their love and Mr. Schuester said to try singing scales through the contractions to see how high up you can get. Rachel agreed with him saying you could use the practice anyways since you haven't been at rehearsals."

Quinn giggled but it was cut off by another contraction. She forgot about scales and rehearsals and only wanted Rachel to be there next to her.

……………

"You can't all go in there! Only a few visitors to a room!" Quinn heard a nurse yell. It had been just over four hours since the call to Rachel and she'd just finished yet another contraction, they were now five minutes apart.

"Back off, woman!"

Quinn sat straight up in bed upon hearing Mercedes' voice.

"We're all family," she heard Artie say. "Brothers and sisters."

"Get out of my way!" Rachel's familiar shriek echoed through the halls and the brunette appeared in the doorway followed by the rest of the glee club. Rachel rushed to Quinn's beside and threw her arms around the blonde.

"You're supposed to be in Branson right now!"

"Yeah, right," Puck said. "I'm not missing the birth of my kid."

"You really think we'd miss this?" Rachel asked. She finally pulled away from Quinn and smiled. "That baby is going to be living at my house, I'm not missing this either." She tucked a few strands of Quinn's hair back and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"But…this is _nationals_!"

"Quinn this baby will only be born once. We'll have other shots at nationals," Mr. Schuester said.

Quinn opened her mouth to start ranting but all that came out was a yell when another contraction hit her. Rachel grabbed onto her hand and talked her through it.

"In and out, Quinn. Breathe."

"I hate you, Puck!" Quinn growled.

"She doesn't mean it, Noah."

"Yes, I do!"

Quinn relaxed and Rachel grabbed the cool washcloth from Jim and dabbed Quinn's forehead.

"Good job, Quinn."

Quinn nodded. "After this is over with…I'm killing Puck."

"You realize if you do that then it will be up to me and my dads to raise the baby since you'll be in jail. And she'll turn out just like me."

"Okay, I'll just have him castrated."

"Hey!" Puck covered his crotch. "Don't even think about it."

Quinn growled and turned her attention back to Rachel. "Rachel?"

"Hm?"

"I uh…my water kind of broke…in your bedroom."

Rachel's eyes widened. "It didn't get on my sheet music, did it?"

"No. Just the floor."

Quinn waited for Rachel's rant on personal space and privacy but before Rachel could open her mouth the fetal monitor next to Quinn's bed started beeping and all eyes fell on it until a nurse came shoving through the crowd of kids. She tapped the screen a few times and looked at the lines.

"What? What is it?" Quinn asked. Rachel's thumb was sliding over the back of her hand.

"Out! All of you out, now!" the nurse said. She pushed the page button that was on the wall above Quinn's head. Everyone quickly shuffled out of the room save for Puck and Rachel.

"I told you to get out."

"I'm the father!" Puck growled.

"I'm the…I…"

"She's the godmother," Quinn said quickly. "They're both staying."

The doctor rushed in and went immediately to the fetal monitor. He watched the lines on the screen and looked at the nurse.

"What's wrong?" Quinn asked shakily.

"The baby's heartbeat is irregular, Ms. Fabray."

"Well fix it!" Rachel demanded.

Quinn's eyes darted back and forth between her stomach and the doctor, trying to find her voice. She glanced up at her own monitor to see lines moving rapidly. She looked at Rachel who looked like she'd just been told Barbra Streisand wasn't real.

"Wh-what's that mean?" Puck asked. "What do you do to fix that? Like…medicine or something?"

"It can mean several different things but I can't give any definite answers based solely on the vital signs. Ms. Fabray, I am seriously recommending an emergency Caesarean. It could be nothing but it could be serious and we need to find out quickly."

"Do it," Quinn said. "Whatever you have to do, just do it. Just make sure my baby girl is okay."

"Someone will bring you the consent forms and we'll get you prepped and ready to go. One person can come with you if you like."

"Only one?"

"Hospital regulations, I'm sorry."

The doctor left and the nurse pushed the call button again and ordered the transport team to take Quinn to the operating room.

"I'll go tell everyone what's going on," Rachel said. "Noah should be with you."

"No, dude…no. Sorry Q but I don't do the whole blood and getting sliced open thing. I can handle it at fight club but I've seen videos of this shit and I can't get through them without tossin' my cookies. I'll go tell the other gleeks what's going on and I'll see you later, kay?"

Quinn nodded and Puck kissed her forehead. He left the room leaving just Quinn and Rachel. Quinn was silent for a few moments, still slightly panicked. She had to focus on something else. If there was one thing Coach Sylvester had taught her that was useful it was focus. Rachel was a good target.

"Why did you come back?"

"After I told everyone what was going on there was no argument. Mr. Schue called the bus driver and he came right back and brought us straight here. Kurt had a screaming fit at the luggage counter and finally got them to give us all of our luggage back. We shouldn't have wanted to go in the first place. It's just not glee without you."

"I'm so sorry about last night Rachel…and ignoring you this morning. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, don't worry about it," Rachel said. "I know you didn't mean it."

The focus didn't work. She tried to think about something, _anything_, to get her mind off of what was happening or could happen with her baby. She lost.

"I'm scared, Rachel." Quinn felt her eyes start burning and the tears spilled over. She held onto her stomach and cried. "I'm so scared…"

"It'll be okay. I'm here, alright? I'll yell at whoever I have to, to make sure everything is okay." Rachel crawled up in the bed closer to the blonde and Quinn buried her head in Rachel's shoulder while the brunette rubbed circles on Quinn's back.

As soon as Quinn signed the consent forms everything seemed to blur together. The orderly came in with the gurney. Rachel was momentarily separated from her so she could scrub up and get ready to go into the operating room. When Rachel was finally back at her side Quinn held on to her hand tightly. Rachel ran her hand over Quinn's forehead and the blue surgical cap that was holding her hair up.

"You okay?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah, I think so. Can you see what they're doing?"

Rachel peeked around the curtain that was blocking Quinn's vision and her eyes widened. "You don't want to know," she said when she looked back at Quinn.

"Thank you for being here, Rach."

Quinn squeezed Rachel's hand and the brunette smiled. Quinn took a few deep breaths and the next thing she knew the single most beautiful sound she'd ever heard echoed through the large room when her daughter cried. Rachel looked around the curtain again and gasped excitedly.

"Can…can you see her?" Quinn asked. "Rachel…Rachel…"

Rachel turned her attention back to the blonde and watched as Quinn went pale, her eyes closed, and her head dropped to the side. Quinn released Rachel's hand and the brunette panicked.

"Quinn? Quinn, wake up!" Rachel looked over to the doctors. "Something's wrong with her! Someone do something!"

The monitors up by Quinn's head started beeping loudly and Rachel watched as the lines jumped sporadically. A nurse shuffled over to Rachel and grabbed her arm. "Come with me, miss. Come on."

"No!" Rachel yelled. "No! What's wrong with her!" She fought hard against the grip of the nurse. The doctors were shouting about clamps and bleeding and the alarms on the monitors were still going off.

"We've got to get out of their way. Come on honey, we've got to get out of the way." The nurse continued trying to pull Rachel away.

"No!" Rachel shrieked again. "Just…please…" Rachel leaned down and touched her forehead to Quinn's. She cupped the girl's jaw with her hand. "Quinn please…Please stay with me Quinn…please, I'll do anything…I'll do anything, please just stay," she begged.


	8. Chapter 7

**-Chapter 7-**

It took two nurses and an orderly to pull Rachel out into the hallway kicking and screaming. Jim and Chuck were pacing outside the doors when Rachel was dragged through. Jim caught her when the staff let go before she lunged for the door. After a few more seconds of fighting she turned to look at him and collapsed into his arms.

"D-Daddy! S-something h-happened!" Rachel cried. "Sh-she was fine and th-then she just…please…please find out what happened!"

Chuck patted Rachel on the back and marched up to one of the nurses that was headed to the scrub room.

"I need to know what's going on in there," Chuck said, gesturing to the operating room.

"I'm sorry sir but only family…"

"That's my daughter in there!" Chuck thundered. "Now you tell me what is happening or I will have the full force of the ACLU come down on you after I go in there and find out for myself!"

The nurse looked from Chuck to Jim and Rachel. "Sir, there are privacy laws…"

"Please ma'am," Rachel begged. "We're all she has, okay?"

The nurse looked around and pulled Chuck back to Jim and Rachel. "Miss Fabray's blood pressure dropped dangerously low," the nurse said in a low voice. "From what I gathered there was some unexpected bleeding and the doctors are going to try their hardest to get it under control. I don't know how long it will take but all you can do right now is go back to the waiting room and wait for someone to update you."

Rachel nodded and an orderly escorted the three of them to the crowded waiting room. The glee kids looked at Rachel, terrified. The brunette sat on one of the couches and Finn wrapped his arms around her. She just stared at the floor. She was vaguely aware of Puck talking to her dads and quietly letting everyone else know what was going on. Everything else was fuzzy.

Rachel was on the verge of a panic attack when two hours had passed and they still hadn't heard anything about Quinn. Jim and Finn kept her sandwiched between them so she couldn't get up to go find and yell at whoever she could. Puck was pacing the floor and mumbling and fiddling with the Star of David that was around his neck. Someone had finally gotten Artie away from a wall because he was beginning to dent it, Brittany was sitting on top of Santana in one of the chairs with her head resting on the brunette's shoulder, and Kurt was knitting a scarf. Matt and Mike stood awkwardly by. Tina, Mercedes, and Chuck took turns going up to the desk every ten minutes to try and pull information out of the nurse that was stationed there. Quinn's replacement had called her parents to come get her the minute everyone got to the hospital. Mr. Schuester attempted three times to come up with some sort of pep talk but eventually gave up and resorted to helping Ms. Pillsbury sanitize one of the chairs so she could sit down. Finally a doctor stepped in the waiting room and was almost tackled by Rachel.

"Who is the family for Quinn Fabray?" the doctor asked.

"We are," came in unison from everyone in the waiting room.

Jim and Chuck joined Rachel on either side.

"We're her guardians," Jim said. "And before you ask, no, it's not legal but I am a family lawyer and I know the laws and we've got the ACLU on our side so it would be in your best interest to not argue with me and go ahead and tell us how our girl is doing."

The doctor just shook his head and looked down at the chart in his hands. "Miss Fabray is in recovery. She's stable but we're going to keep a close watch on her. She experienced some unexpected bleeding and it took some time to get it under control. We had to put her under anesthesia so she'll be asleep for a bit."

"And the baby?" Rachel asked.

"The baby is in the nursery, she's just fine. We're also keeping a close watch on her because of the irregular rhythm we picked up earlier. It seems to have corrected itself but we're going to run some tests to make sure there isn't an abnormality with the heart."

"When can I see Quinn?"

"Someone will come get you in a little while."

"Thank you," Jim said, shaking the doctor's hand. The man left the waiting room and Rachel collapsed into Jim's chest again.

"Rachel you've got to be strong," Chuck said. "Quinn doesn't need you to be hysterical, okay? She needs positivity."

Rachel resumed her position on the couch next to Finn. Everyone sat in silence for another half hour until another orderly came into the waiting room.

"Which one of you is Rachel?" an orderly asked.

Rachel's hand shot into the air.

"You can come with me, one other person as well."

"Noah?"

Everyone nodded and Puck stood and followed Rachel and the orderly to the recovery room.

"She just now waking up, the first thing she did was to ask for you but," the orderly looked at Rachel, "if she's still awake she'll be disoriented and probably not make much sense and most likely won't remember this later on but it's right now that counts. As she comes out if it more she'll seem more alert but act…well the best way to describe it is that she'll resemble someone who is rather inebriated."

"Noah, you're not allowed near her when she gets to that stage."

Puck scoffed. "I think one kid is enough for me."

Rachel and Puck followed the orderly down the row of beds until he stopped. He nodded at the curtain and Rachel ducked inside followed by Puck. Rachel stopped breathing and her knees went weak. Puck held on to her and she shook. Quinn was still pale, there was a bag of blood hanging up with the saline solution. Rachel watched the lines on the heart monitor move in a steady rhythm.

"She looks so…so helpless…" Rachel whispered. She took a few steps forward and carefully took Quinn's right hand into her own. "Quinn…"

Quinn stirred a little and opened her eyes to look at Rachel. She smiled slightly. The lines on the monitor moved a little faster.

"Rachel…"

"God, Quinn, you scared me! I swear if you ever start uncontrollably bleeding again I…I don't know! Just don't do it again!" Rachel swept away the stray strands of hair from Quinn's face and gripped tighter to her hand.

"I'm sorry," Quinn murmured. "Rachel…love you."

Puck shot Rachel and glance and the brunette shook her head.

"Hey Baby Mama," Puck said. He patted the top of Quinn's head. "You're gonna pull through this, okay?"

Quinn nodded and turned back to Rachel. "I love you," she said before her eyes closed and she drifted back to sleep. Rachel sighed and ran her fingers through Quinn's hair.

"We should go," Rachel whispered after a few minutes. "My dads will want to see her."

Puck nodded and wrapped his arm around Rachel's shoulders again and the two were escorted back out to the waiting room. Instead of heading for Finn who was standing with his arms open, Rachel pulled Puck away from the others.

"I know what you're going to ask, Noah, and the answer is no."

"Then why the hell did she just tell you she loves you?"

"Because she does."

"Normally I don't give a shit about other peoples' relationships but Finn's already been through enough. What the hell is going on with you two?"

Rachel let out an exasperated sigh. "Quinn pulled me aside a few weeks after joining glee and told me that she's in love with me and apparently had been for quite some time."

Puck blinked a few times. "She was with Finn."

"Yeah."

"And she had sex with me."

"It is possible to be attracted to both sexes, Noah."

"What about you?"

"They're her feelings to deal with, not mine. She told me she wanted me to be happy and I'm happy with Finn."

"Oh really?"

Rachel's eyes widened. "Why wouldn't I be? I'm with him, aren't I?"

Puck crossed his arms over his chest and stared down at the wide-eyed brunette. "If you found out Finn was in the hospital would you have gone all apeshit and made us come back here?"

"Noah this is completely different, you wanted to be here too."

"She's the mother of my spawn, of course I want to be here. You have feelings for her, don't you?"

"I'm with Finn!" Rachel squeaked.

"So was Quinn."

"You just want me to say yes so you have another masturbatory fantasy in your arsenal."

"I've had that fantasy in there for a long time."

Rachel rolled her eyes and slapped Puck's chest. "I'm done having this conversation."

"Whatever, Rachel."

Rachel and Puck walked back to the crowd of glee kids.

"Should someone call Quinn's parents?" Artie asked. "I mean I know they kicked her out but I would think they'd want to know what's going on, don't you?"

There were a few murmurs before Finn sighed and pulled out his phone. He walked out of hearing distance and returned a few minutes later.

"They comin'?" Puck asked.

Finn shrugged. "Her mom just said thanks for telling her. I gave her the hospital information and everything." Finn sat next to Rachel on the couch again and wrapped his arm around her.

Jim and Chuck returned with the orderly and informed everyone that Quinn was being moved to the Intensive Care Unit. The orderly directed them to the correct floor.

"I want to see the baby," Puck said when everyone was walking to the elevators. "I'll catch up with you guys later."

"I'm coming, too," Rachel said. "Have us paged if anything happens."

Puck, Rachel, and Rachel's dads took the stairs and found their way to the nursery and looked at the row of babies that were in the window. Rachel quickly scanned each of the name cards but "Fabray" was nowhere to be found. Puck tapped on the glass to get the attention of one of the nurses.

"Fabray!" he said.

The nurse shuffled to her desk and looked through the charts. She looked through one of them then looked back at the foursome at the window. She pointed to the doors that lead to the hallway and they all went to them. They waited at the counter and the nurse came out.

"Who are you?"

"The father."

"Godmother."

"Grandfathers."

"Only two at a time," she said.

"God, what is it with you people and 'two at a time'?" Puck grumbled.

The nurse led Puck and Rachel into the back and along a line of bassinets. They stopped at a sink and the nurse made Puck and Rachel both scrub their hands and arms until they were both red. When they finally got to the baby she was one of the hospital bassinets and connected to a heart monitor.

"She's beautiful…" Rachel whispered when she peered down at the sleeping newborn. She looked up at Puck who had tears in his eyes. "She's definitely a good looking Jew, Noah."

Puck smiled. "Can I like…touch her?" he asked the nurse.

"Would you like to hold her?"

"I…will she break? Like…I have really big guns, you know? I don't want to squeeze her or something."

The nurse cackled and motioned to the rocking chair that was in the corner. "Bring that here."

Puck grabbed the chair and put it down next to the bassinet and sat down in it. The nurse put a pillow under his left arm and positioned it just right then covered him with a blanket. She picked Baby Fabray up out of the bassinet and carefully placed her in Puck's arms. She adjusted his arms and moved around the cords so they wouldn't be in the way. Rachel pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and started taking pictures.

"I'm gonna take care of you," Puck cooed. "I'm gonna teach you how to do all sorts of things that will make your mom yell at me but trust me, they'll be a lot more useful when you grow up than cheering will be." Puck swept what little blonde hair Baby Fabray had to the center of her head and smiled. "And you totally have a mohawk, awesome!"

When it was Rachel's turn she held her breath as the nurse placed the baby in her arms. Puck took pictures with Rachel's phone and for once the brunette didn't fuss over the fact that her appearance wasn't completely perfect; her hair was messy from keeping her fingers threaded through it while staring at the floor, her makeup had smeared, and her eyes were still red from crying.

"You're so beautiful," Rachel whispered. "You're going to get the best of everything. Vocal trainers, dance trainers, gymnastics coaches, absolutely everything. You'll be on Broadway before you can spell it."

"Don't turn my little girl into a diva. What if she wants to play sports or something?"

"With how Quinn talked about her kicking, I'm certain she'll be a Rockette."

"She could be a soccer player."

"Fine, we'll get her fitness trainers, soccer coaches…"

"Quinn talk about names at all?" Puck cut Rachel off.

"No. But then again, we haven't exactly been on speaking terms for a while. And she does _not_ have a mohawk."

Before Puck could retort the nurse appeared again. "Excuse me," the nurse said. "Sorry to bother you but you're Rachel Berry?"

"Yes."

"You've been paged to go to the ICU."

Rachel pressed a gentle kiss to baby's forehead and the nurse took her from Rachel's arms and Rachel hurried out of the room. She met her dads in the hallway and they shrugged when she asked what was going on. She bolted towards the staircase and down to the ICU waiting room.

"What…happened?" Rachel gasped, attempting to catch her breath. Mercedes nodded to the front desk and Rachel ran to it. Another nurse led her to the ICU room where Quinn was, Finn was standing outside of the room, arms crossed over his chest and his face was red.

"You want to tell me why Quinn is telling me how much she loves you?"

"Because she does? Wow this feels like déjà vu."

"What? When the hell did this happen?"

"I don't want to have this conversation right here, Finn. If you're going to be angry then I suggest going to the waiting room and letting someone else come back here."

Finn stormed out and Rachel walked into Quinn's ICU room. She looked just about the same as she did in recovery only she was a little more alert.

"You have got to stop telling people you love me, Quinn," Rachel said. She took Quinn's hand and gave it a squeeze.

"But I do," Quinn slurred.

"I know you do but it's creating some problems."

"Where's baby?"

"She's in the nursery. She…she's beautiful, Quinn. I was just down there. I got to hold her, Noah did too. She's absolutely perfect. Noah swears she has a mohawk with what little hair she has but I assure you, she does not. It's blonde, by the way. I don't know what color her eyes are because she stayed asleep the entire time we were there but I'm sure they're beautiful. I've got pictures of the whole thing on my phone, I'll show you when you're more awake."

Quinn nodded and let out a sigh. Mercedes stepped in the room and Quinn smiled.

"I love Rachel!"

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Quinn, I told you…"

"Please, as if we didn't know that already," Mercedes sighed. "Kurt owes me five bucks by the way, thanks Q."

"No problem."

"You made a bet on this?" Rachel raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah, I said you guys would crack before nationals and technically speaking, it's before nationals since the competition isn't until Saturday."

"Excuse me, I never said anything about having feelings for Quinn."

Mercedes rolled her eyes. "Thanks for losing me my money. Now both of us and Tina owe Artie. He bet that only Quinn would crack and you'd still be in denial. Let us know when you do crack though because I'm calling that it happens before the end of summer vacation."

"I'll get her, Mercedes, don't worry! You gotta split the money with me though!" Quinn giggled then whimpered and held onto the pillow that was over her stomach. Rachel sighed and swept the stray strands of blonde hair away from Quinn's forehead.

"Has no one noticed that I am dating _Finn_?"

"Whatever, girl. By the way, we're also taking bets on when Britt and Santana make things official, either of you want in?"

"I put ten on Puck's Fourth of July party," Quinn said.

"I don't think you are in any state of mind to gamble, Quinn." Rachel shook her head. "You're not going to remember any of this tomorrow anyways."

Mercedes laughed. "Alright, I'm gonna bounce outta here with Tina, Artie, and Kurt after we all go down to the nursery to see the baby. They'll come in to say bye."

"I'll call you if anything changes," Rachel said. "Thanks again for you know, not killing me when I said we should ditch nationals."

"Girl, please, this baby is gonna be a star. She needs as much talent around her at all times as humanly possible."

"Agreed," Rachel said with a grin.

The rest of the gleeks follow suit, coming in one at a time and saying their goodbyes. Quinn was asleep for most of them but roused a little when Artie came in.

"Hey Quinn! Thanks for helping me win the bet!" Artie said when he rolled in. He counted his money again and smiled.

Quinn looked confused. "Huh?"

"The…the bet with Tina, Kurt, and Mercedes."

"She's still a bit out of it," Rachel said. "She won't remember anything tomorrow…or in five minutes."

Quinn had dozed back off to sleep before Rachel even finished talking.

Mr. Schuester was last to come in, Quinn was still asleep.

"I'm so proud of you, Rachel," he said. "You really showed everyone what being teammates is about today."

"Thanks Mr. Schue."

"Can you do me a favor and talk to the others about stopping all of this gambling on people's relationships?"

"They've got one on you and Ms. Pillsbury, don't they?"

"Our wedding date."

Rachel laughed and Mr. Schuester gave her a hug before leaving.

Rachel didn't leave Quinn's side until Chuck forced her out of the room to go to the cafeteria and have dinner since Rachel hadn't eaten since a bagel at the airport. When Rachel returned to the ICU waiting room she did a double take at an older blonde woman standing at the information desk.

"Quinn Fabray, she's my daughter! Are all of you this incompetent?" the woman half-yelled.

Rachel cautiously approached the woman. "Mrs. Fabray?"

"Yes? Who are you? Do you work here?" Mrs. Fabray turned and stood with her hands on her hips.

"I'm Rachel Berry. Quinn's been living with me…"

"She has? I thought she was living with that Finn boy."

"They broke up, Finn wasn't the father of the baby. When he found out about it Quinn came to live with me and my dads."

"Dads?"

"Yes, dads, plural. I have two fathers. Quinn is doing fine, by the way."

"Well where is she?"

"In the back."

"And the baby?"

"She's fine, too."

"Good. I've found a couple that is willing to adopt her so Quinn can come back home and resume her life. As soon as she recovers she'll be back on the Cheerios in no time. Finally this family can go back to a semi-normal appearance."

"Are you _insane_?!" Rachel growled. "Your daughter has just had major surgery, almost died on the operating table, and all you can worry about is your appearance?!" Her arms flailed with her words, pointing to the ICU door and finally waving wildly at the stunned woman in front of her.

"If she's doing just fine then there is no need to worry about it, is there?"

"Wow. I…" Rachel straightened up her shoulders. "There are very few times in my life in which I have been rendered absolutely speechless, Mrs. Fabray, and this is definitely one of them. Quinn deserves much better than what she's gotten from you. I completely understand now where she got her obsession with maintaining appearances. I'm happy to say that I believe she's changed and I'll be _damned_ if I allow her to be submerged back into that toxic environment. She is keeping the baby _and_ coming home with my dads and me."

"Speechless, hm?"

"Hmpf." Rachel turned on her heel and chin held high she did what she would later retell as her best diva walk-out ever.

Rachel had to be dragged out of the hospital by her dads when visiting hours ended and they were up early the next morning and at the hospital just as visiting hours begin. Rachel checked at the information desk to find that Quinn was still in the ICU and she made her way up to the floor. Quinn was in a similar state that Rachel had left her, still slightly drowsy.

"Has the doctor been in yet?" Jim asked.

Quinn shrugged. "I dunno."

"I'll go ask."

Jim returned with Quinn's doctor. He looked over her charts and checked her vital signs.

"How are you feeling this morning, Miss Fabray?"

"Soooo sleeeeepy."

"That's to be expected. Your vital signs are good and since you haven't had anymore complications I think we'll move you to the maternity floor in a few hours, we just have to check to make sure a bed is open."

"Okay." Quinn nodded. She was asleep before the doctor left the room.

When Rachel checked the ICU after lunch she found that Quinn had been moved to the maternity ward just a few minutes before she got there.

Rachel smiled when she walked into the room and saw Quinn sitting up in bed holding the baby. There was a nurse nearby watching closely.

"You're a natural," Rachel said while she washed her hands. "Noah was terrified when he was holding her. You're much more relaxed."

"You think so?"

"Definitely. How are you feeling?" Rachel sat in the chair by Quinn's bed and peered up at the bundle of pink blankets in the blonde's arms.

"A little tired. Pretty sore but I guess that's to be expected. She has your eyes."

"That's impossible, Quinn. If her eyes are dark brown then they're Noah's."

"They remind me more of yours, they're very expressive. Puck just looks at women and pictures them naked and I don't like thinking of my daughter having a pervert's eyes."

Rachel sighed and shrugged. "Okay, Quinn."

"The doctor wants to run a few more tests," the nurse said, looking at the clock. "He should be making rounds here in a little while so I should get her back to the nursery."

Quinn nodded and the nurse took the squirming infant and placed her back in the bassinet to take her back to the nursery. Jim and Chuck came in from their lunch out and checking on things at the furniture store and each kissed Quinn on the top of the head before sitting down in the remaining chairs.

"You gave us quite a scare, sweetie," Jim said. "I thought we were going to have to sedate Rachel there for a while."

Rachel blushed and shrugged her shoulders. "I was just worried."

Quinn let out a small giggle.

"So does Baby Fabray have a name yet?" Chuck asked.

"Elizabeth," Quinn said with a smile. "Elizabeth Berry Fabray."

"Quinn, honey, that's…you…" Jim's eyes glistened with tears.

"I want her to have a name she can be proud of."

"Well I, for one, am honored," Chuck said.

"That's definitely a name that will look excellent on a playbill!" Rachel said, smiling wide.

Quinn groaned and rolled her eyes. There was a knock on the door and the doctor stepped in with a smile.

"Miss Fabray, how are you feeling this afternoon?"

"Sore, still kind of tired."

"We'll see what we can get you for the pain. Your daughter's heart is just fine, we've done an ultrasound and there don't appear to be any abnormalities but we'll do periodic checks for the first couple of years just to make sure."

"I…I don't mean to sound like a horrible person but…is all of this going to be covered by my insurance? Am I going to be paying medical bills for the rest of my life just from this?"

The doctor looked through the charts. "Not all of it will be covered by your state insurance but there is a note on your chart here about change of billing address. It says all further bills are to be addressed to Judy Fabray."

Quinn looked down at her lap and sighed. "When can I go home?" she asked quietly, momentarily ignoring what the doctor had said.

"We'd like to keep you here for a few days for observation, normal stay after a Caesarean is two to four days, we're leaning towards four or five because of the complications. Tomorrow we'll get physical therapy up here to get you walking, until then please don't try to get out of bed without help. Call a nurse if you need anything that someone else can't get for you."

Quinn nodded. Jim thanked the doctor again and he left.

"When was my mother here?"

"Yesterday," Rachel said. "She didn't come to your room at all though."

Quinn nodded. "I'm sure it's just her trying to convince me to give up Lizzy and come back home."

"Are you…"

"No way, Rachel. Don't worry."

The same nurse that had taken her to the nursery came back with Elizabeth in her bassinet. Quinn smiled when she saw Rachel's eyes light up when she saw the bundle of pink.

"Would you like to hold her?" Quinn asked Rachel's dads. Jim beamed and nodded excitedly and hurried to the sink to wash his hands. He picked Elizabeth up out of her bassinet and swayed back and forth, softly singing "My Girl" to her.

"So did I say anything embarrassing when I was out of it?" Quinn asked, turning her attention back to Rachel. Rachel moved from her chair up to sitting on the edge of Quinn's bed. She took one of the blonde's hands and traced her thumb over the back of it.

"Well, you professed your love to me to anyone that would listen, Finn included. I should probably clear that up with him sometime today. You bet Mercedes ten dollars that Brittany and Santana would make things official at Noah's Fourth of July party. Also, she's angry at me for losing her money because I told her I'm not in love with you after you announced that you love me."

"I...I don't remember anything. After Lizzy cried I just remember really, really bright lights and then waking up this morning. Just tell everyone it was the drugs talking."

"Well it was, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, of course," Quinn lied.

The glee club members that remained in Lima for spring break filed in over the next few days to spend time with Quinn and Elizabeth.

Elizabeth puked down Santana's back; luckily she wasn't wearing her Cheerios uniform. Brittany giggled and cleaned Santana's shirt. The Latina swore off ever having children of her own. Ms. Pillsbury and Mr. Schuester came in together and Rachel commented that they looked very natural when the redhead was holding Elizabeth and Mr. Schue was looking over her shoulder. Puck came in for a few hours each day when he took a break from mowing lawns, an expansion on his pool cleaning business. Surprisingly, Finn did come in one afternoon. He held Elizabeth for a few minutes before taking Rachel to lunch. She came back alone and Finn didn't come back for the duration of Quinn's stay. Quinn didn't ask questions.


	9. Chapter 8

**-Chapter 8-**

Quinn breathed deep and smiled when she stepped into the familiar living room. Everything was the same it had been the first time she stepped into the house except for the addition to her picture on the wall next to Rachel's. Chuck helped her up the stairs to her room, Jim followed with Elizabeth, and Rachel brought up the rear with Quinn's bags. Jim placed the sleeping infant in her bassinet and Rachel started putting Quinn's things away and sorting laundry to wash. Quinn sat on the edge of her bed closest to the bassinet and watched over Elizabeth carefully.

There was an awkward silence before Quinn asked the question that had been plaguing her thoughts. "Did you talk to Finn?"

Rachel paused her laundry sorting for a second before responding. "I did, when he came by the hospital."

"I'll try to do some damage control when…"

"We broke up." Rachel continued sorting.

Quinn was stunned. "What? Why? I thought you were happy with him."

"I was happy with him and I do care about him. However, I'm just simply too high maintenance for him and I think it would be wise at this juncture of my life to focus on my ultimate goal. Julliard isn't going to accept me if I'm less than my best. Broadway only takes second-bests as understudies and Rachel Berry does _not_ understudy…except when that crazy woman took over glee club, but it doesn't count. Anyways, Finn needs someone simpler, less demanding."

Quinn arched her eyebrow. "That's it?"

Rachel sighed and joined Quinn on the blonde's bed. She looked down at the bedspread and fidgeted with the hem of her skirt. "He wasn't exactly ecstatic with what happened at the hospital. I don't think I reacted in a way that he thought was appropriate."

"This is my fault," Quinn sighed. "I'm so sorry, Rachel."

"It wasn't just about you, Quinn. Finn and I just aren't a good match, it's that simple. I care about him a lot but…" Rachel bit her lip and glanced up at Quinn then back down to the bedspread. "But I don't think it's something I can't get over. You didn't do anything wrong."

"But if I hadn't run my mouth off…"

Rachel looked up and shook her head. "I should've reacted more dramatically, I suppose. When he tried to bring it up I just pushed him away, I think he was angry that neither of us ever told him. I guess I've just kind of gotten used to the idea so I didn't see it as being a big deal."

"Does that mean…"

"Quinn, I said I'm used to it. Please don't look any further than that, okay?"

"Just checking. I really am sorry though, Rach. Not just for that but for ignoring you."

"I'm sorry, too. The door swung both ways; I was ignoring you, too. But listen, all that matters is that you and Elizabeth are home, safe and sound where you belong. Mr. Schuester has been designated as your tutor, when school resumes he'll be coming in to give you your assignments and get you through the school work while you recuperate. According to my calculations your four to six weeks of recovery will allow you to come back to school for the week of finals. Until then we'll look for childcare for that week."

Quinn sighed and looked over at the bassinet where Elizabeth was stirring. "I don't know if I can do this, Rachel."

"You won't be doing it alone. You'll have plenty of help this summer if you want to continue working at the furniture store and I know Noah is willing to take her on weekends every now and then when you're ready."

Quinn nodded and lay back against her pillows. Rachel finished sorting through her laundry and pressed a kiss to the sleeping blonde's forehead before leaving her to rest.

……………

"Please Lizzy…please stop crying," Quinn sighed. She looked down at her clock and groaned. It was four in the morning and Elizabeth had been crying for over half an hour despite having been fed, burped, and changed. The baby was three weeks old now and Quinn had never had this much trouble getting her quieted down. Quinn paced back and forth in her bedroom rocking the inconsolable infant until her door opened.

"I'm so sorry Rachel…she just won't stop…I've tried everything. I'll take her downstairs…"

"Give her to me, go to my room and lay down." Rachel held out her arms.

Quinn was too tired to reject help so she handed the baby off to Rachel and headed for the door. She closed the door almost all the way but stopped and looked through the crack at the brunette cradling the small infant. Rachel brushed her fingertips over Elizabeth's forehead. Quinn had watched Rachel with Elizabeth before but the brunette was usually quiet, sometimes she would hum softly or giggle at a face or noise the baby would make. Rachel obviously had no idea Quinn was still listening when she started to talk.

"Okay my little gold star," Rachel said softly. "What shall it be tonight, hm? We did Barbra yesterday while Mommy was at the doctor. I think we should go for a little _Defying Gravity, _don't you?"

Rachel started singing and Quinn smiled. She decided that this was her second most favorite sound in the entire world right behind Elizabeth's first cry. Elizabeth quieted down quickly and only let out an occasional whimper by the time Rachel got to the second verse. Quinn made her way to Rachel's room and crawled into the brunette's bed. She inhaled the scent of Rachel before falling asleep.

Quinn woke up a few hours later, slightly confused as to why she was in Rachel's room. She went to her own and saw Rachel curled up in the middle of her bed, face buried in a pillow and snoring lightly. Quinn shook her head and knew Rachel would never admit to the snoring but she made a note to tease the brunette about it as often as possible. Elizabeth was starting to stir in her bassinet and Quinn quickly picked up the infant and rocked her. She looked over at Rachel who hadn't moved and shook her head. She didn't have the heart to wake her and so Quinn let Rachel sleep while she left to feed Elizabeth.

……………

Quinn cried when she took Elizabeth to stay with the wife of one of Jim's business partners the first day she had to go back to school. She had special permission from Principal Figgins to leave school during lunch to go see the baby; Jim picked her up on his lunch break to take her over. She cried again after lunch when she had to leave. Rachel announced an emergency glee meeting on the last day of school and everyone delegated out babysitting schedules and rules so Quinn could still work and Rachel could get breaks. Brittany, Santana, and Kurt took Mondays; Tina, Mercedes and Artie called Wednesdays. Puck agreed to take her Fridays and weekends when Quinn was comfortable with it. Finn was still stand-offish but said he would help out on Mondays and Wednesdays when he could. Mike and Matt would both be at football camp all summer but they made everyone swear to send them pictures and video.

The schedule ran smoothly all summer. On days when Elizabeth went on outings with the gleeks they showed up at eight o'clock sharp and her car seat was buckled in to whoever's vehicle they're taking. If it was Brittany, Santana, and Kurt they usually took her to the baby store and Kurt splurged on designer outfits. She was definitely the best dressed baby in Lima and probably the entire state of Ohio. Thanks to Brittany, Elizabeth had already amassed a collection of ducks, both stuffed and rubber. It wasn't until the end of June that Santana agreed to hold her again but only if the Latina was thoroughly covered.

Tina, Mercedes, and Artie usually ended up at Mercedes' house and they would listen to old vinyls of Aretha Franklin and The Supremes since Mercedes was sure that all Elizabeth listened to at the Berry's house was the soundtrack to _Wicked_. On days when it wasn't too hot, they would fit Artie with the baby carrier and go around the park.

Puck wasn't entirely sure what to do so Rachel and Quinn came up with a list of baby-suitable activities. Usually he'd read to her or listen to music. Sometimes, if one of his customers was scheduled for a pool cleaning on a Friday, he would take Elizabeth with him and if the customer wasn't home he'd change her into the swimsuit that he bought her and take her in the pool, making sure to hold her tight against his chest so she didn't slip away.

Despite being the one that created the babysitting schedule to give herself a break since she had Elizabeth to herself on Tuesdays and Thursdays it became normal for Rachel to join the other glee kids on their outings with baby Elizabeth. On the days when it was just the two of them Rachel would of course play plenty of music from Broadway's finest while she twirled around the house with Elizabeth nuzzled to her chest in the baby carrier. The brunette's MySpace videos featured Elizabeth more often than not now; the baby just gurgling and cooing and Rachel swearing she was a star in the making because of her very strong set of lungs. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence for Quinn and Chuck to come home and find Rachel on the couch, _Funny Girl_ on the TV, with Elizabeth sleeping peacefully on Rachel's chest.


	10. Chapter 9

**-Chapter 9-**

It was the middle of June and Elizabeth's first weekend at Puck's. Quinn couldn't sleep. She was worried about the baby, checking her phone every five minutes just in case Puck had tried to call or text. That wasn't the only thing keeping her awake though. Rachel. It was always Rachel that kept her thoughts occupied even when she was thinking about something else. The wheels in her brain were constantly turning. Elizabeth, Rachel, Elizabeth, learning the specifications on the new plasma screen televisions at the furniture store, Elizabeth, Rachel, finding out why show room kitchen table #6073 was wobbly, Rachel, Elizabeth, yelling at Puck for letting Elizabeth listen to Eminem uncensored, Rachel…

Ever since Rachel had broken up with Finn, Quinn tried to keep her emotional distance from the brunette; she didn't talk about her feelings anymore, she didn't flirt with Rachel or say anything suggestive. They were still friends though, just as they had been before Rachel started dating Finn. At the time she made the decision to keep her distance from Rachel, she figured she had caused enough complication in the brunette's life and it wasn't difficult at first because she had been distracted with Elizabeth and working full time. However, now that she had some time to think about it, it was threatening to drive her insane.

Quinn padded down the hallway and stood in front of the door with the gold star on it. She opened it quietly. Rachel was snoring lightly. Quinn eased herself into the room and shut the door behind her. She sat on the edge of Rachel's bed and gently shook her awake. Rachel grunted and Quinn shook her again. The brunette sat bolt upright and looked around.

"Quinn…baby…Elizabeth…is…is she okay? What's wrong?"

"Lizzy's at Puck's tonight, Rach."

"Oh." Rachel resumed her previous position lying down and Quinn sighed in frustration.

"Rachel I need to talk to you."

"Quinn, it's…" Rachel rolled over and looked at her clock, "three seventeen in the morning. Can't it wait?"

"If I wait any longer I'll go crazy from sleep deprivation."

Rachel sat up and turned on the lamp on her bedside table.

"Okay."

"I love you, Rachel."

Rachel sighed. "Okay."

"I've tried to move on but can't get over it. It's…impossible to explain. I just can't."

"Go back to bed."

"Rachel…"

"Quinn, please. I can't do this right now." Rachel reached for her lamp and Quinn caught her wrist.

"I've been patient, Rach. I haven't said anything since the hospital even though I could have. But do you really think I didn't notice that you weren't devastated over Finn? And did you really think that I wouldn't find out how at the hospital you avoided every single question about…"

"Who told you about that?"

"Come on, Rachel. Our friends love drama. Did you really think that they'd keep their mouths shut? I've been getting attacked with what they think are subtle questions about you and me. They keep offering to take Lizzy in the evenings in case we want to spend time together. Kurt pocket dialed me a week after Lizzy was born and on my voicemail was an entire conversation he was having with Mercedes dissecting every single comment you made while I was out of it."

"We're not getting into this," Rachel snapped. "Go back to bed."

Quinn didn't move.

"Please, Quinn."

"Can I sleep in your bed? I'm having trouble sleeping without Lizzy in there."

"No."

Quinn got up from Rachel's bed and the brunette turned off the light when Quinn left the room. A few minutes later she heard her door squeak open again and there was a rustle. Rachel turned the light to see Quinn spreading a comforter on the ground and dropping a pillow at one end of it.

"What are you doing?" Rachel hissed.

"You said I couldn't sleep in your bed. You never said anything about the floor." Quinn smirked and sat down on the comforter and pulled the second one over her. She stretched out on her back and put her hands behind her head. She glanced over at Rachel who was propped up on one elbow staring at her.

"You're certifiably insane, Quinn Fabray."

"I know."

Rachel turned out the lamp and rolled over. After half an hour of listening to the rustle of Quinn tossing and turning on the hard floor she let out a frustrated sigh.

"Quinn!"

"Yes?"

"I swear to Barbra Streisand you are the most stubborn person I know!"

"Thank you!"

"Get in this bed before I have time to seriously think about what I'm offering."

Quinn leapt off the floor and bounced into Rachel's bed. She snuggled into Rachel's back and attempted to wrap an arm around the girl's waist but it was pushed away.

"If you're in my bed, you sleep by my rules. Keep your hands to yourself."

"I understand. If we sleep in my bed can they be my rules?" Quinn giggled manically; Rachel grabbed a pillow and hit her in the head.

Quinn woke up early the next morning and tried to move but found herself unable to because there was a tan arm hugging her across her stomach. Rachel twitched when Quinn tried to move again.

"Rach, wake up."

"Nuh-uh."

"Then at least let go of me."

Rachel grumbled and held on tighter.

"I'm not Finn, you know."

"Mmhmm. Stay."

"I'll come back. I really have to go to the bathroom though!"

Rachel grumbled again and let go of Quinn. The blonde returned a few minutes later and cautiously crawled back into the bed, sure Rachel would freak out. When Rachel resumed her position of holding on tight to Quinn, the blonde's worries slipped away.

"Rachel?"

"Hm?"

"You're still aware that I'm Quinn, right?"

"Sleep."


	11. Chapter 10

**-Chapter 10-**

Elizabeth quickly outgrew her bassinet and Rachel's dads brought up Rachel's old crib from the basement to put together as a weekend project when the new mattress they ordered came in. Ms. Pillsbury bought a new hypo-allergenic chair from Quinn at the furniture store and when the blonde let it slip that she was planning on using Rachel's old crib the redhead almost fainted. Quinn laughed when Rachel called her the next day that Ms. Pillsbury had shown up at the house and was currently going over the dismantled crib with three different child-safe, organic cleaning products even though Rachel had assured her several times that it had been stored in shrink wrap and they had cleaned it before taking the pieces upstairs _and_ that they had a brand new mattress on order.

Quinn stopped receiving bills from her doctor's appointments from before her state health insurance kicked in. It wasn't until she sat down to balance her checkbook in late June that she realized she hadn't gotten a statement from May or June. She looked through her files and there was nothing so after she put Elizabeth down for a nap she called the number that was on her last bill. After pressing eight buttons to get to the billing department that she found out was actually located in Cincinnati, forty-six minutes on hold, six transfers, three people who didn't speak English, and finally almost crying, she got her answer.

"You okay?" Rachel asked from the doorway.

Quinn just stared at her phone.

"What happened?" Rachel crossed the floor and joined Quinn on her bed. She wrapped one arm around Quinn's back and settled her chin on the blonde's shoulder.

"I just got off the phone."

"I gathered."

"My parents paid everything off. All the sonograms and doctor's appointments from when I was pregnant. Absolutely everything." Quinn sighed. "Yet they can't be bothered to try and contact me."

"Maybe it's their way of…"

"It's their way of making themselves look good, Rachel. It's all about appearances."

Rachel nodded. She took the phone out of Quinn's hands and slid her fingers between the blonde's.

"Rachel…" Quinn looked down at their hands then up into dark brown eyes.

"Don't, okay?" Rachel whispered. "Just…don't."

Quinn nodded. "Okay."

Weekends that Elizabeth spent with Puck, Quinn slept with Rachel. The brunette still insisted that Quinn keep her hands to herself but they always seemed to end up in the same position as they did that first morning. Quinn didn't complain. Actually, they didn't talk about it all until finally, near the end of July, Quinn had enough.

Rachel wouldn't talk about it. Every time Quinn tried to bring it up Rachel told her to be quiet and if Quinn persisted then the brunette would pull away from whatever more-than-friendly position they found themselves in and stay distant for a few days. Rachel always came back. Whether it was that Rachel's hand almost always ended up in hers while they watched movies or the fact that the routine they had fallen in of Quinn staying in Rachel's room when Elizabeth was with Puck had now expanded and Rachel was sporadically finding her way to Quinn's room in the middle of the night a few times a week, Rachel just wouldn't talk about it.

It was irritating, Quinn thought. Sure, she loved it, but it was irritating. She had even resorted to asking the other glee kids if Rachel said anything and all she got was from Kurt that Rachel was quieter than usual, which he was a fan of, and she almost always looked like she was seriously thinking about something. Quinn knew exactly what he was talking about already. She'd seen it, too. It was the look Rachel got when Mr. Schuester handed out a piece of music that the brunette wasn't sure if she liked or not.

Quinn was pacing what little floor space she had in her room with Elizabeth held close to her chest. It was obvious to Quinn that Rachel was feeling a little more than friendly towards her but since she wouldn't talk about it there was no way to know for sure unless...

Quinn put Elizabeth down in her crib and tiptoed down the hallway and stood in front of the gold star. She took a deep breath and barged into Rachel's room without knocking and the singer looked up from her laptop. Quinn momentarily lost her train of thought when she noticed Rachel's eyes go wide and the hint of a smile cross her face. She shook her head and took another deep breath.

"Rachel Berry, I want to take you out on a date," Quinn demanded.

Rachel looked back down at her laptop. "Maybe."

"Rachel, this is insane! All summer you've - wait, what?"

"I said maybe." Rachel shrugged.

"Maybe? Rachel, I'm serious here. I don't know what you're doing but…"

"You'll need permission from Dad and Daddy," Rachel cut her off. "Not just Daddy, either. Dad, too."

"I may be a tad bit on the old-fashioned side, Rach, but this isn't _Leave it to Beaver_. And if it were, I'm pretty sure this plot would have been nixed and the writer given an exorcism."

"No permission, no answer."

"You're not going to make this easy on me, are you?"

Quinn momentarily thought about running head first into a wall when she saw a slightly devious smile slip across Rachel's face before she caught it and went back to her blank expression.

"Fine," Quinn said. "I'll do it."

"Okay."

Rachel quickly excused herself from dinner that night and Quinn sat nervously with Elizabeth in one arm and picking at her food around on her plate with her fork.

"Rachel's been acting strange this evening," Jim said. "She greeted me at the door with a hug when I got home. She hasn't done that since she asked for a video camera for Hanukkah two years ago. Any idea what she's up to, Quinn?"

Quinn bit her lower lip nervously and nodded.

"What is it she wants now? A car? Tell her she needs to get her permit first," Chuck said.

"That's…that's not it."

"I bet she's on again about going to New York over winter vacation."

"Can I take Rachel on a date?" Quinn blurted out.

Chuck's fork hit his plate with a clatter and he snapped his head up to look at Quinn. Jim tried hard to contain his smile. Quinn felt about three inches tall under Chuck's glare.

"I…I already asked her but she won't give me a definite answer without your permission."

"And this date would consist of?" Chuck asked.

"Well, you know, dinner and a movie. The typical date. There's really not a lot of options in Lima. I was going to take her to the Chinese place that we always order take-out from; actually see the inside of the restaurant, you know?"

"Jim, what do you think?"

"You know good and well what I think," Jim said with a smile.

"Do you guys want me to leave so you can talk about this?"

"No…just give me a second," Chuck said. He sighed and rubbed his forehead for a moment. "Curfew still applies, you understand? You can borrow a car for the evening but if I see more miles on it than I think are appropriate for a date in Lima you'll be in trouble. I'm perfectly content to ground you."

Quinn nodded.

"And if this should lead to something more…"

"Chuck honey, I think we should take this one step at a time. It's just a date."

"You and I started as 'just a date'."

"Are you sure you don't want me to leave?"

"Chuck is just…protective, sweetie. Sometimes a bit _too_ protective."

"Rachel needs it sometimes. You know as well as I that she can be a bit naïve."

"You know, I think I'm just going to go upstairs and feed Elizabeth and…"

"You can take her out," Jim said sternly. "We'll see how it goes and if anything more comes of it then we'll talk about it. Does that sound good, Chuck?"

"Okay. Quinn?"

"Deal. Can I…go ask her now?"

Jim and Chuck nodded. There was a crash and short yell from Rachel signaling she had probably tripped up the stairs followed by a loud "bang" which Quinn recognized as a door slamming shut. She smiled and took her plate to the sink before heading upstairs with Elizabeth. She paused in front of the door with the gold star and waited a few minutes, letting Rachel get situated since Quinn knew she'd been listening and probably had some sort of injury from tripping up the stairs.

Quinn knocked on the door and Rachel called from the other side for her to enter. Quinn couldn't help but smile when she saw Rachel was still out of breath and there was a rug burn appearing on the brunette's arm.

"Nice rug burn."

Rachel looked at her arm and quickly covered it up. "It's nothing."

"Really? So you totally didn't just fall up the stairs after you listened to the conversation I had with your dads?"

"I would never eavesdrop! I just wanted to alphabetize the DVDs in the living room."

"So if I go down there right now _Funny Girl_ won't still be sandwiched in between _Seven Brides for Seven Brothers _and _My Fair Lady_?"

"I-I-I started from 'Z'?"

"Well I wanted to make sure you were okay," Quinn said with a smirk. "I'll just be going." Quinn turned around and headed towards the bedroom door.

"Wait!" Rachel shrieked. Elizabeth jumped a little and looked around before settling her head back on Quinn's chest.

Quinn turned around and batted her eyelashes innocently. "Yes? Is there something you wanted?"

"You…I just thought you were going to ask me something."

"Oh, yes, that! Your dads said no."

Rachel scrambled off of her bed and planted her feet firmly on the floor. "Liar!"

"How would you know, Miss Berry?"

"Because Daddy's been on Team Quinn since day one," Rachel stated, matter-of-factly. She crossed her arms over her chest. "And I've been extra nice to him today so there's no way he would say no."

Quinn smiled. "Okay, so they really did say yes but _somehow_ I think you knew that already."

"Alright, so I might've been listening."

"Really?" Quinn said, overly pretending to be shocked. "And here I thought you really might be psychic!"

"If you're going to make fun of me then I'll be the one saying no."

Quinn smiled and stepped towards Rachel. She looked down at the brunette and into her eyes. "Rachel Berry, will you allow me the honor of taking you out to dinner and a movie this Friday night?"

"I would love to, Quinn Fabray."

Elizabeth sighed peacefully and Rachel laughed. She leaned forward and kissed the baby's temple.

"I take that you approve of your Mommy taking me out, hm? The look on your Daddy's face is going to be priceless when he finds out, yes it is!"

Elizabeth cooed and Rachel smiled.

"I'll pick you up Friday at seven," Quinn said. They both giggled and Quinn retreated to her room to feed Elizabeth. When Rachel's door closed Quinn heard what was unmistakably a squeal followed by Rachel jumping around the room.


	12. Chapter 11

**-Chapter 11-**

Puck came to get Elizabeth right on schedule at eight o'clock Friday morning. Quinn was already at the furniture store with Chuck when Rachel called to let her know Puck had been there. The hours dragged by for Quinn. She swore the clock wasn't working around three because even though it felt like an hour had passed it was only five minutes. She would only have two hours to get ready for the date since she worked until five. She already had her outfit picked out, the same yellow dress from the glee girls' mash-up. It wasn't too dressy but not too casual either, she decided. She had no idea what Rachel was wearing but she didn't really care.

Finally, Chuck locked the front doors and flipped the sign to "closed" and they started turning off all of the lights. Quinn practically ran to the car when they were finished, she scowled when Chuck took his time locking the back door and getting to the car.

"Tonight's the night, hm?" Chuck said when they pulled out onto the street.

"Yeah."

"I expect you'll be respectable and lady-like."

"Of course."

"If this goes well we're not going to be too keen on you and Rachel sneaking into each others rooms in the middle of the night."

Quinn choked and spit out the drink of water she had just taken and sputtered. She grabbed tissues from the center console and started cleaning up the dashboard and windshield.

"We're not oblivious, Quinn. And if we thought there was anything inappropriate going on we would've said something already."

"There hasn't been, I assure you."

"I know, Rachel told me."

The rest of the ride was spent in silence. It seemed like forever before they were finally in front of the Berry house. Quinn had to restrain herself from running to the front door. She walked briskly but once the front door was open she barely said "hi" to Jim before tearing up the stairs to her room to get ready. She heard Rachel go from the bathroom to her bedroom and Quinn waited before occupying the bathroom.

Quinn paced the bedroom floor until her alarm clock went off. She shut off the alarm and grabbed the red rose she had bought on her lunch break then quickly took the few steps to Rachel's room. The blonde took a deep breath and knocked on the door, Rachel whipped it open and gave Quinn a death glare.

"You're late!" Rachel growled.

"It's six fifty-five!"

"Seven ten!"

"Your clock is fifteen minutes fast, Rachel. Do I have to call time and temp to prove it to you again?"

Rachel straightened herself up. "Fine."

Quinn and Rachel both broke out in a fit of laughter when they took their first good look at what they were wearing. Rachel had also chosen her yellow dress from the mash-up to wear. Quinn gave her the rose and Rachel smiled. She placed it on her desk and grabbed her purse.

"Shall we?" Rachel said, holding out her arm.

Quinn smiled and linked her arm in Rachel's and the two descended the stairs to the living room. Chuck handed Quinn the keys to the SUV and the girls hugged the two men then headed outside. Quinn got in the drivers side of the SUV and adjusted her seat. She looked over at the passenger side to see Rachel still standing outside of the vehicle.

"Are you serious?" Quinn asked. Rachel smiled.

Quinn groaned and got out and walked around to the passenger side. "Am I going to have to pull your chair out at dinner, too?" Quinn opened the door and Rachel hopped into the seat.

"It would be the lady-like thing to do."

"You sound just like your dad. I'm requesting a booth."

Rachel beamed and Quinn shut the door. She resumed her position in the driver's seat and carefully backed out of the driveway. The ride was silent until Rachel plugged her iPod in and the two sang along to the mix Rachel had made consisting of all of the songs the glee club had sang over the previous year.

Quinn sighed when the hostess told them all of the booths were full so she reluctantly agreed to sit at a table. She pulled Rachel's chair out for her and Rachel grinned and thanked the blonde. They both ordered their favorites, General Tsao's hot chicken for Rachel, beef with broccoli for Quinn.

"So…Chuck says no more bed sharing if things go well tonight," Quinn said while they were waiting for dessert.

"I know."

"You don't seem too disappointed."

Rachel smiled mischievously. "Don't worry about it."

"What have you got up your sleeve Rachel Berry?"

"Nothing." Rachel was still smiling. "I think we need to talk to Noah again about acceptable activities for Elizabeth. He called me this afternoon asking if it was okay for him to take her to his fight club tomorrow night."

Quinn rolled her eyes. "I doubt his mom would let him out of the house with her at that hour anyways. And why does he think that if he asks you that you'll say yes?"

"I have no idea. He knows that the only outings I find acceptable are those that will groom her for stardom. I told him to take her to the community theater production of _Annie_ instead."

"I thought you boycotted the community theater when they turned you down for _Wicked_?"

"I believe their outright failure of the show was punishment enough."

Quinn laughed and the two continued chattering through dessert about what they hoped to sing in glee club in the coming school year. On the drive to the movie theater Rachel's phone started blaring "Defying Gravity" and Quinn was startled and almost ran off the road.

"It's Noah…" Rachel said, looking at the screen.

"Well answer it!"

"Noah? What's going on?" Rachel was silent for a while and Quinn pulled into an empty parking lot. "Well did you sing to her?...What did you sing?...Noah, I don't think Metallica…How warm?...Is your mother there?...What do you mean she's gone for the weekend?!"

Quinn ripped the phone away from Rachel.

"Puck what the hell is going on?!"

"She won't stop crying and I think she feels warmer than she usually does and I just don't know what to do!"

"Why didn't you call me?! And where is your mother?"

"I did call, like six times! And I sent you texts! Mom is in Cleveland for some business thing. I thought I could handle Liz by myself but I don't know what to do!"

"Have you taken her temperature?" Quinn asked while going through her purse. She pulled out her phone and found it was switched to silent mode. She had four texts, six missed calls and four voicemails.

"She won't close her mouth around the thermometer."

"There is an ear thermometer in her diaper bag, you idiot!"

"Oh…oh yeah, okay! Sis, get me the bag!...Okay, how do I work this thing?"

"Push the green button until there's a beep. Put it in her ear until it beeps again and then tell me what the number is."

"Okay…okay there's something blinking on the screen…Okay it says…holy shit it says it's a hundred point seven. That's like, high, right?!"

"We'll be there in a few minutes just try to stay calm."

Quinn closed Rachel's phone and tossed it at the brunette. "She's got a fever of a hundred point seven," Quinn said shakily. She slammed the SUV into gear and sped out of the parking lot.

Rachel wrapped her fingers around Quinn's wrist and the blonde let go of the steering wheel and she laced her fingers with Rachel's.

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Rachel said softly. Quinn only focused on the road.

They made it to Puck's house in record time and they could hear Elizabeth crying before they even got up to the front door. Quinn burst into the living room and Puck immediately handed her off to Quinn.

"What's wrong with her? Is she sick? Should we take her to the hospital?" Puck asked.

"I don't know, we just got here! Give me the thermometer."

Puck rummaged around in the diaper bag and pulled out the thermometer. Rachel took it from him and took Elizabeth's temperature again while Quinn tried to settle her down.

"Quinn, it's gone up to almost hundred and two," Rachel said, looking at the digital numbers.

"Puck, get the car seat out of your truck and put it in the SUV, we're taking her to the hospital."

Puck ran out of the house followed by his sister and Quinn and Rachel followed. Quinn got Elizabeth settled in her car seat and crawled in the back seat with her and Rachel. Puck took the driver's seat and his little sister hopped in front with him.

"Hold on," Puck said when he threw the SUV in gear.

"Get us there alive, please Noah."


	13. Chapter 12

**-Chapter 12-**

Even though Puck made it to the hospital in only a few minutes it still felt like the longest ride of Quinn's life. She soothed Elizabeth the best she could but to no avail. Rachel practically jumped out of the still moving SUV and ran into the emergency room when they pulled into the parking lot, by the time Quinn got in Rachel had already started filling out paperwork.

"She's had all of her vaccinations," Quinn said, looking over Rachel's shoulder.

"I know. I have her entire medical history memorized. She's had all of her vaccinations, hasn't had to see a doctor for any other reasons other than checkups. The ultrasound on her heart last week showed everything was still normal. Dr. Myers is her primary care physician, the address of his building is…"

"Okay, okay, I get it," Quinn said. "Sorry…it's just scary."

Rachel looked up from the papers and kissed Quinn's cheek. "I know."

She went back to furiously scribbling on the paper. She dug through Quinn's purse and pulled out the necessary insurance cards to finish filling out the papers. She was halfway through when they were called back to a room. Rachel continued writing while Quinn rocked Elizabeth and sang softly to her. A nurse took Elizabeth's temperature again and took the completed paperwork from Rachel.

"Where is the doctor?" Puck growled. "We've been in here for like fifteen minutes!"

"I assume you're the father?" a man in green scrubs and a white coat asked from the doorway.

"Yeah, I am, and my girl is sick and I want to know why!"

"Calm down," the doctor looked at the chart, "Mr. Puckerman. I'm Dr. Johnson. Let's have a look at Miss Elizabeth, shall we?"

Quinn stood and lay Elizabeth down on the hospital bed. Rachel took Quinn's hand and they watched as the doctor listened to Elizabeth's heart.

"Has she been irritable lately? Anything out of the ordinary?"

"She…she's been a little fussy lately I guess," Quinn said. "She didn't sleep well last night."

He pulled out his otoscope and put one of the black tips on it. He peered into Elizabeth's left ear and then her right.

"Aha!" he said when he pulled the tip out of the baby's right ear. "It seems as though this pretty little thing has a very nasty middle ear infection. No wonder she's unhappy, I would be too!"

"Okay," Puck said, "Okay, what do we do? How do we make her feel better?"

"I'll prescribe some drops that will alleviate the pain and antibiotics that will get rid of the infection. Her left ear is fine but the right is most definitely infected. It's a good thing we caught it before it progressed any further. Inner ear infections are horrendous to deal with, especially in babies."

"Antibiotics? She's three months old, she can't take pills!" Puck looked confused.

The doctor blinked a few times before Rachel spoke. "Noah, they make antibiotics in liquid form."

"Oh."

"Were either of you prone to ear infections when you were younger?" the doctor asked, gesturing to Quinn and Puck.

"Not that I know of," Quinn said. She pulled away from Rachel and sat down in the chair next to the hospital bed to try and soothe Elizabeth again.

"I had those tube things when I was five."

"Alrighty. We can only hope that she won't start having these regularly. Unfortunately we find that the younger a child starts having ear infections the higher the possibility is of a re-occurrence and if that's the case then she may be looking at a tympanostomy."

"What? What the hell is that?"

"The 'tube things', Mr. Puckerman."

"Okay."

"You'll need to follow up with her physician," the doctor looked through the chart again, "Dr. Myers, in about two weeks; sooner if she doesn't show signs of improvement by Monday or Tuesday. Keep checking her temperature regularly, if the antibiotics are working properly her fever should start coming down pretty quick. Don't be alarmed if there is yellowish fluid that comes out of her ear, that just means her eardrum has ruptured and released the buildup of fluid that is behind it. It will actually alleviate some of the pain if it does rupture and you should stop the ear drops if that happens. Any questions?"

"Can you repeat that part about the eardrum?" Rachel asked. She had a small notepad in one hand and was furiously scribbling.

"Rachel, it's okay, I'll remember."

Rachel put the notepad back in her purse and put a hand on Quinn's shoulder while the doctor wrote notes on Elizabeth's chart.

"I'll send these prescriptions down to our pharmacy and they'll be brought up to you in a little bit. For now we'll go ahead and give her a dose and some drops for the pain. Sometimes a warm compress can help, too."

"Thank you," Quinn said. She picked up her daughter and started pacing the floor again to try and calm her down. The doctor nodded and left.

"I should call my dads," Rachel said.

"Is this my fault? Like, did I do something wrong? I swear I didn't know Metallica could make a kid sick!"

"Puck, ear infections are caused by bacteria, it has nothing to do with bad musical taste."

"Hi Daddy…" Rachel stepped out into the hallway while Quinn continued rocking Elizabeth who had barely calmed down. Puck paced the floor and his little sister sat and fidgeted with the hem of her shirt.

"Sorry I interrupted your date, Baby Mama."

"You did the right thing, Puck."

"Did you guys make out? I want details here! If Berry is going to be dating the mother of my spawn then I need to know these things."

"You're a pig."

It was quiet again, aside from Elizabeth's cries.

"Okay," Rachel said stepping back into the room, "Dad and Daddy know what's going on and I've sent a mass text to the rest of the glee club. Brittany called me panicking thinking that Elizabeth's ear is going to actually fall off, Santana took the phone away from her and told me that she's with her and will explain what's going on. Kurt texted back and says he's going to work on mini-designer heat pads to put on her ear. I haven't heard back from anyone else..." Rachel's phone beeped and she scrolled through the text message. "Tina says that she's with Artie and Mercedes and they ran into Mr. Schue and Ms. Pillsbury at the movie theater right when she got my text. Ms. Pillsbury has offered to come over and sanitize the entire house and she strongly suggests using a water purifying pitcher when you give her a bath if you're not doing so already."

Quinn sighed and shook her head. An older nurse in pink scrubs came in with Elizabeth's doses of antibiotics and pain relievers and a plastic syringe.

"Some babies don't like to take the medicine right from the syringe," the nurse said. "Do you have a bottle with you?"

Rachel rummaged through the diaper bag and pulled out an empty bottle.

"Take off the nipple and hand it here."

Rachel obliged. The nurse drew up the required amount of antibiotic in the syringe and put the tip in the nipple. Elizabeth eagerly took the nipple into her mouth and the nurse pushed the plunger.

"It's that easy. The drops won't be as pleasant but they'll give her some relief from the pain."

The Rachel and Puck looked on attentively as the nurse showed Quinn how hold Elizabeth, keeping her turned on her side and put in the drops.

"Keep her like that for about five to ten minutes to make sure the drops settle. Some might run out when you turn her back over but that's alright."

Quinn nodded and the nurse left.

"Q, I know this is supposed to be your weekend off…"

"I'll take her, Puck."

"Got it. I'd probably get the medicine confused or something."

"You would do fine but I just want her with me. When was the last time you fed her?"

"She wouldn't take the bottle at dinner, that was when she started crying. Before that it was at like four."

Elizabeth started quieting down and the nurse came back in with a bag with the baby's prescriptions and a packet of papers.

"This will tell you everything you need to know about the medicines, side effects, what to expect in the next few days, when to call a doctor or come back here, and all the do's and don'ts," she said. Rachel snatched up the papers and started reading. The nurse held up the bag to show Quinn. "Detailed dosing instructions are in here along with some syringes. Make sure you clean them thoroughly between uses."

Quinn nodded. The nurse handed Quinn the chart. "Just sign here saying you got the medicine and the papers explaining everything and you're free to go."

"I'll go pull the car up," Puck said. He took his sister out of the room. Quinn signed the papers and Rachel grabbed Elizabeth's diaper bag and her and Quinn's purses and they followed the nurse to a line of desks where Quinn paid the insurance co-pay.

"How much of this will be covered by my insurance?" she asked the woman behind the desk. "I need to know what to expect."

"Dr. Johnson is very good at making sure state insurance covers most if not all of the expenses for young mothers. And the hospital has payment programs. If you find you'll have trouble paying the bill then just call the number that comes with it and they'll set you up on a plan."

Quinn nodded and thanked the woman. Puck drove back to his house and Rachel promised to call him if anything changed. The brunette stayed in the back seat with Elizabeth when Quinn drove them home. They were met in the driveway by Jim and Chuck; Quinn broke down when Jim wrapped his arm around her to lead her up to the house. Rachel grabbed the bags and Chuck grabbed the car seat with the baby and they all settled into the living room while Quinn calmed down and Chuck kept a warm compress on Elizabeth's afflicted ear.

"It was so scary," Quinn whispered. "I…I didn't know what to do and I just…all of these horrible thoughts went through my head and then I felt bad for thinking horrible things."

"Quinn, you were excellent," Rachel said. She scooted close to the blonde and wrapped an arm around her waist. "You stayed calm and you did all the right things. Everything is going to be okay now."

Quinn nodded and Rachel held her close and ran her fingers through Quinn's hair.

To everyone's relief, Elizabeth's temperature came down by Saturday afternoon. After giving the baby her night time medicine Quinn practically collapsed in her bed and dozed off. She was awoken by the bed shifting and a familiar body curling up next to her.

"Rachel," Quinn murmured. "What are you doing?"

"I wanted to see how you were feeling since you didn't come back downstairs."

"Your dads will kill me if…"

"My dads specifically stated that we are not to sneak into each others rooms in the middle of the night. First of all, it's not the middle of the night. Second, I did not sneak."

"Maybe you should reconsider this Broadway star goal. I think you'd make for a fantastic lawyer."

"Also, I do believe you owe me a movie."

Quinn rolled over to face the brunette and smiled. "What'd you have in mind?"

"I'm in the mood for a classic."

"We're not watching _Funny Girl_ again."

"You're no fun."

"What about _Wizard of Oz_? That's always a good go to."

"Works for me!"

Rachel leapt out of Quinn's bed and returned moments later with the DVD. She popped it into the DVD player and then settled herself up to the right of the blonde and Quinn and started the movie.

Just as Dorothy stepped into the Land of Oz Quinn glanced down at Rachel's hand that was between the two. Quinn reached over with her left hand and traced over Rachel's knuckles with her fingertips and the brunette grabbed on and laced their fingers together. Quinn scooted closer over to her date and wrapped her other arm around Rachel and the brunette laid her head over on the taller girl's shoulder. Quinn lightly traced her thumb on Rachel's shoulder through the girl's t-shirt and Rachel let out a content sigh. Neither girl moved until the end of the movie. Quinn looked over to check her clock and whimpered.

"You should go to your room."

"Walk me to the door?"

"It wouldn't be lady-like of me to make you walk alone, I suppose."

Both girls got out of the bed and Quinn took Rachel's hand for the short walk to the brunette's room. Rachel's dads were coming up the staircase just as the pair stopped in front of Rachel's door.

"Girls…"

"Quinn owed me a movie, Dad. She was perfectly respectable and lady-like and even polite enough to walk me to my door."

"Goodnight, girls," Jim said, pushing Chuck to their bedroom.

"Goodnight Dad, Daddy," Rachel said with a smile.

"'Night," Quinn said.

When Jim finally pulled Chuck into their bedroom Quinn stood facing Rachel and she took the singer's hands into her own.

"So…" Quinn said, looking down at hers and Rachel's hands.

"I lied to you," Rachel blurted out.

Quinn blinked. "About?"

"About a lot of things. I…I never hated you. I never thought you were lying when you told me you loved me. I only said those things because I was just angry. I couldn't understand why you chose to treat me like you did."

"I was afraid. I was _so_ afraid, Rachel. It was something I could easily hide so I did and I figured if I wasn't outright terrible to you then people would figure out how I really felt."

"What started all of that? You not hating me?"

"Brittany's sleepover. Right before the start of freshman year."

Rachel furrowed her brow for a moment then gasped. "Truth or dare!"

Quinn nodded.

"I have to admit that I lied about something else, too." Rachel let a small smile cross her lips.

"Oh?"

"I told you I'd never do this again."

Rachel stretched up on her tip-toes and gently brushed her lips over Quinn's. In reality, the kiss was brief but to Quinn it felt like an eternity. It was better than the last time, she ultimately decided, because Rachel did it not out of pity but out of…whatever it was Rachel was feeling.

"Goodnight Quinn," Rachel said when she pulled away. She smiled up at the blonde and opened the door to her room, glancing back over her shoulder at Quinn.

"Sweet dreams, Rachel."

Rachel nodded and slipped into her bedroom. Quinn twirled on the spot before bouncing down the hallway to her own room. Elizabeth was cooing in her crib and Quinn picked her up and twirled her around.

"Rachel just made your mommy one very happy girl tonight, Lizzy." Elizabeth gurgled and Quinn kissed her on top of the head. "Next time I take her out can you please not get sick though? Mommy would really appreciate it and I know Rachel would, too."


	14. Chapter 13

**-Chapter 13-**

There were only a few weeks left of the summer, Quinn took Rachel out every chance she got and the first day of school they walked through the hallways proudly hand-in-hand. They went to glee practice to not only find the original gleeks but six new freshman and sophomore hopefuls as well, including the irritating girl with bright red hair.

Practice was more like a small party even though the glee kids had seen each other frequently throughout the summer but even Rachel couldn't disagree that their first day back had been exhausting and no one was in the mood to jump right into choreography. Mercedes collected the money she won from the bet and split it with Quinn, as promised.

Rachel and Quinn waited patiently outside of the school for Jim to pick them up when Quinn spotted a familiar red sport car pull into the parking lot followed by her father's black Mercedes-Benz. She stood up from her position on the bench when both vehicles pulled in front of her. Judy Fabray exited her old car, Russell out of the Benz. Quinn was speechless as her parents stood in front of her and looked disapprovingly at Rachel and the fact that Quinn wasn't in a Cheerios uniform.

"We're moving to Chicago," Russell stated.

"I…haven't seen you since the end of last year and you expect me to pick up and…"

"I meant 'we' as in your mother and I. What you do is no concern to us anymore."

Rachel stood and stepped forward but Quinn grabbed onto the back of her blouse and held her back.

"It's okay, Rach," Quinn murmured into Rachel's ear before giving the girl a quick peck on the cheek. Rachel growled and took Quinn's hand, glaring at Quinn's father who was now nearly purple.

"So are you a…"

"Did you get the pictures I sent?" Quinn cut him off.

"Yes, and the hospital bills."

"That wasn't my…"

"Your mother wouldn't allow me to give away or burn your things, they all in a storage locker downtown." Russell handed her a set of keys. "Number fifty-one."

"Thank you…"

"It's only paid through the end of the month. We can't take your car with us, it would just be pointless. I thought about selling it but when we bought it we paid off the insurance until you graduate so you might as well take it, too. If you crash it and the premiums go up it's up to you to pay off the damages and whatnot. If you want to sell it and transfer the insurance to something else then just go to the insurance office on fifth street, they'll take care of everything."

Quinn smiled a little bit, knowing that her father could've easily gotten rid of the car despite it being paid off. He handed her a second set of keys.

"Would you like to meet her before you leave?" Quinn asked.

There was a gasp from Rachel.

"I would," Jdy finally spoke. Her father started to speak but was cut off. "She's our granddaughter! We're leaving here in a week and you and I both know that we're probably never coming back and this is our only chance to do this."

"I can bring her by on Saturday," Quinn whispered. "You don't have to be there if you don't want to, Daddy."

"I'll think about it."

Quinn watched as her parents got into their Benz and drove away. She stood staring at her car and gripping the keys in her hand. Rachel wrapped an arm around the blonde and reached up to press a kiss to her cheek.

"The car seat won't fit," Quinn mumbled.

"You could trade it in. Maybe get a van…"

"I'm _not_ getting a van."

Quinn snapped her head to glare at Rachel and the brunette smiled innocently. Quinn collapsed back on the bench in a fit of laughter. Rachel joined her and held onto Quinn's hand, the laughter soon turned to sobbing and Quinn buried her head into Rachel's shoulder and the brunette held on to her girlfriend tight.

"Everything is going to be okay, Quinn."

"I know…it just…I don't know. That's the most they've shown they care since I made the Cheerios. Other than that it's just been…they've just kind of been _there_. It was all about appearing to be happy and like everything was perfect. I…I can't honestly say that I am really disappointed by them leaving."

"Then why the tears?"

Quinn shrugged. "I still feel kind of abandoned."

"You have a family, Quinn."

Quinn smiled and leaned down to kiss her girlfriend. "As long as you're not considered family," Quinn giggled. "That would be just wrong."

Rachel smiled and Quinn rested her head on the girl's shoulder. Rachel ran her fingers through Quinn's hair until Jim pulled up in the SUV. Rachel told him what happened and Quinn cried again when Jim hugged her and told her everything would be fine and she had nothing to worry about. Quinn and Rachel took the SUV to pick up Elizabeth, Jim took Quinn's car home.

Friday night Quinn was stretched out on the couch with Elizabeth peacefully sleeping on her chest and Rachel lying down with her head on Quinn's stomach, her fingers tracing the sliver of skin between the waist of Quinn's sweatpants and the bottom of her t-shirt.

"Quinn?"

"Hm?"

"Are you going tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

"Would you like me to come with you?"

"I don't know yet."

"Okay."

Rachel pushed up Quinn's t-shirt a little and pressed a kiss to the still very visible C-section scar. Quinn let out a content sigh and ran her fingers through Rachel's hair.

"Just text me if you want me to come in, okay?" Rachel said.

……………

Quinn nodded and Rachel gave her a good luck kiss before Quinn jumped out of the SUV and got Elizabeth out of her car seat and slung the diaper bag over her shoulder. She made her way up to the large house that was her childhood home. The only thing that looked out of place was the moving truck parked in the driveway. Quinn took a deep breath and rang the doorbell. It took a few minutes before her mother opened the door. The older woman's eyes immediately fell on the baby Quinn held in her arms protectively.

"Come in," Judy said with a smile. Quinn stepped inside to the foyer and the familiar tense atmosphere hit her hard. She gripped onto Elizabeth, just knowing the infant would pick up on the tension as opposed to the relaxed atmosphere she was used to. Sure enough, Elizabeth picked her head up and started looking around, rather startled looking.

"We haven't packed up all of the sitting room furniture yet," Judy said. Quinn followed her mother to the sitting room, the two couches were still there, and the coffee table. She flashed back to the night Finn decided to spontaneously serenade her. The night her parents kicked out. Quinn took the exact same place she had that night and her mother sat next to her. Quinn turned Elizabeth facing towards her mother and bounced the girl on her knee while the infant looked around the room.

"She's beautiful, Quinn."

Quinn nodded and pulled a large envelope out of her backpack. "Jim needs you and Daddy to look at these and sign them and have them notarized," she said, handing the envelope to her mother. "It gives them the right to sign for me if they need to and register me for school and all of that. It'll be good enough until I turn eighteen but if you'd rather turn over parental rights completely then you'll need a lawyer and it will have to go to court," Quinn recited what Jim had told her earlier that day.

Her mother took the papers and looked over them. "Not allowed to claim you as a dependent on government forms? Do they think we're that greedy?"

Quinn shrugged. "Jim said that's part of the deal. He said he's seen a lot of cases where parents kick their kids out but still claim them to get tax credits or government help. His number is on there if you have any questions."

Quinn's mother nodded and tucked the papers back in the envelope. "We'll get it taken care of."

Quinn nodded and looked around nervously. Elizabeth was giggling and cooing and Quinn's mother smiled down at the infant.

"Daddy decided not to stay?" Quinn finally asked.

"He's very busy with the moving."

"No, he doesn't want to be here."

"Your father has to…"

"Don't do this, Mom. Don't lie to me, okay? He's had a whole week to talk to whoever he needs to talk to and do what he needed to do. He knew I was going to be here with Elizabeth and he didn't come. He's a heartless bastard and you know it."

"Don't you dare talk about your father that way!" Judy hissed. "He provided for you, put a roof over your head…"

"Until I got pregnant."

"If you had just given her up for adoption…"

"It wouldn't have mattered. You would've kicked me out anyway when you found out that I'm in love with a girl."

"Well that's hidden a bit more easily than a baby bump, sweetie."

Quinn rolled her eyes and stood. "Rachel isn't someone that deserves to be hidden."

"Honey, there are just some things you don't shout out…"

"You mean like how you and Daddy go through a couple bottles of vodka a day?" Quinn hissed.

"Your father and I enjoy a drink every now and then…"

"Yeah, only on days that end in 'y'."

"Quinn, that's enough. Your father and I just want you to do things you can be proud of."

"No! You've only ever been proud of me for doing what _you_ want. You've never once been proud of me for doing what I want. You weren't proud when I joined glee club and we made it all the way to nationals, which they _sacrificed_ for me by the way. The Cheerios would never have blown off any competition to be with me."

"We only wanted you to be happy."

"No you didn't. You wanted to look good. You wanted to be able to parade your daughters around in front of your rich, snobby friends and tell them how much better you were than them because we were both captains of the Cheerios and in Christ Crusaders. Do any of them know I have a daughter?"

Judy Fabray was silent. Quinn knew that she had struck a nerve, and probably the truth. She held on tight to Elizabeth and walked to the front door. There was no protest from her mother when she opened it and looked back over her shoulder. Quinn slammed the door behind her and marched out to the SUV. Just as she was opening the door to put Elizabeth into her seat, her father's car pulled into the driveway. She watched as he exited the car and looked at her. She held her hand up to wave at him. He looked at the front door of the house and then back to Quinn before slowly walking towards the SUV.

"Hi…" Quinn said softly.

Russell Fabray looked down at the baby in Quinn's arms and Quinn saw what might have been a small glimmer in his eyes before he looked back up at her.

"She is very pretty."

Quinn nodded. "Mom isn't going to be in a good mood. We fought and…and I said some things. I'm sure she'll tell you and you'll never want to talk to me again. I'm not sorry for them though. What you did to me…"

"Things turned out for the best," Russell said, straightening up his shoulders. "Someday when she's grown you'll understand."

"I don't think I ever will understand. I'm going to love her and accept her no matter what mistakes she makes or who she loves." Quinn glanced over her shoulder through the window of the SUV to Rachel whose head immediately snapped forward.

"Just promise me you'll at least go to college so you don't completely ruin your life."

"I will."

Russell nodded and turned away and started walking through the front yard back up to the house. Quinn opened the door to the SUV and hoisted Elizabeth into her car seat.

"Quinn?"

"I'll probably never hear from them again and that's all I have to say right now."

Jim brought home the signed papers Monday night.


	15. Chapter 14

**-Chapter 14-**

Jim helped Quinn find a dealer to make an even trade on her little red sport car for a sensible four-door silver sedan that was practically brand new. There was plenty of room for Elizabeth's car seat and Rachel thoroughly researched the safety specifications and gave her stamp of approval when she found the ratings acceptable. Puck came with to test drive it and he gave his approval after checking under the hood and talking the salesman into putting in brand new fan belts and replacing the battery. The insurance didn't go up, much to Quinn's relief; she was saving every penny possible for college expenses she knew she would be enduring in a few years.

It was a week after her visit with her parents that Quinn was working at the furniture store and Rachel and Jim came in, baby in tow, Rachel smiling ear to ear. Quinn signaled for her to wait a minute, she was talking a customer into buying a bedroom set rather than just the dresser. After she'd made the sale and written up the order she greeted Rachel in the back office with a kiss.

"So guess what," Rachel said excitedly.

"_Wicked_ is coming to Lima and they want you in as Elphaba?"

"No, better! Elizabeth rolled over! Tummy to back!" Rachel looked down at the gurgling girl in her arms and smiled. "Didn't you, big girl? All by yourself!"

Quinn smiled and knelt down to kiss her daughter on the top of the head. "That's awesome! So Elizabeth rolling over is better than Elphaba?"

"I'm sure Elphaba can roll over just fine! I got the second one on video, by the way. She scared herself when she did it the first time, it was absolutely adorable. We've been working on back to tummy all morning, no success yet but I am sure it's only a matter of time. The website I looked at said it takes longer…"

Quinn shook her head and interrupted Rachel with another kiss. Rachel smiled, Elizabeth squealed. Chuck called Quinn back out to the showroom and the blonde pressed another kiss to Rachel's lips.

"Back in a minute."

Quinn walked to the door and looked back over her shoulder at Rachel who had turned Elizabeth to face her, the baby standing on Rachel's legs and Rachel cooing and laughing along with her. The blonde felt slightly torn between loving the sight and being worried about it. Rachel was very obviously attached to Elizabeth. She loved that baby. Even though the brunette still talked about Julliard and New York City and Broadway, Quinn couldn't help but wonder if Rachel would feel the same when they started filling out college applications the next year.

Rachel's video camera was going almost constantly when she was at home. They watched Elizabeth's first taste of solid food on an almost daily basis because it was simply too adorable. It was strained green beans. Elizabeth was sitting up proudly in her high chair that Mr. Schuester had bought and with the first spoonful of the green mush she curled her face up in dislike and Rachel and Quinn lost it. They tried peas and carrots, too. She loved the carrots and seemed to be indifferent about the peas. They quickly discovered that her absolute favorite was peaches and that if the food wasn't just the right temperature she wouldn't eat it.

The semester went by quickly for both girls, they were overloaded with homework and preparing for sectionals and studying for their ACTs and SATs that they were taking in the spring. Quinn kept extra busy working as much as she could between doing everything else. Sectional went smoothly, as expected. They once again took unanimous votes for the win from the judges.

Elizabeth's first Halloween was an event to remember. The original members of New Directions all congregated at the Berry house, no one was going to miss this milestone. Quinn and Rachel got Elizabeth dressed upstairs in her white bunny costume (Brittany was disappointed but Quinn promised that the other blonde could make her a duck costume the next year), making sure to add extra layers underneath because the forecast was calling for freezing temperatures. Quinn left the room to grab her camera and go to the bathroom and when she came back she stood in the doorway and watched quietly.

Rachel had Elizabeth on the bed, sitting up on her own but with the brunette had her arms on either side of the baby, waiting to catch her. "You, Miss Elizabeth, are going to be the most adorable baby out there tonight! Yes you are!"

Elizabeth gurgled and squealed and reached for Rachel. The brunette happily picked her up and stood and started swaying back and forth. She sang softly, what Quinn quickly recognized as "Don't Rain on My Parade". Elizabeth cooed along with Rachel's voice and the singer smiled.

"Already trying to hit the big notes, I see! I'm not sure you're ready for Barbra just yet, my little gold star. Although you have seen _Funny Girl _a few times it will take plenty of vocal training before you can tackle the Great One. We'll start out with 'Twinkle, Twinkle' and work from there when you're ready, how's that?"

Elizabeth squealed and squirmed. She reached for Rachel's nose and the brunette crinkled it up when the baby's tiny hand made contact. Rachel kissed Elizabeth's forehead and Quinn smiled. The blonde sighed and made her presence known by walking up behind Rachel and wrapping her arms around the shorter girl's waist.

"I think the paparazzi are waiting downstairs," Quinn said. Rachel turned around and smiled. She reached up on her tip-toes and kissed her girlfriend softly.

"Did you tell them to turn off their flashes? I don't want her to be startled or blinded."

"They know, Rach."

Rachel grinned and stretched up for another kiss.

"Are you ready, Elizabeth?" Rachel asked the infant. Her response is a smile and another squeal. Both girls took it as an affirmative and exited Quinn's bedroom.

When they reached the top of the stairs all of the glee club kids were waiting with their cameras. There were well over a hundred pictures taken just in the house alone. There was at least four or five taken at each house they went to. Elizabeth was passed off from one gleek to the next when someone's arms would get tired. By the time they finished going up and down both sides of the street (they split the candy amongst themselves), driving to Puck's house so his mom and sister could see, stopping by Mr. Schuester's apartment where Ms. Pillsbury just happened to be that night, and making an appearance at Elizabeth's babysitter's house, Elizabeth was fast asleep.

Rachel cautiously pulled off the baby's bunny outfit and Quinn stripped the layers of clothing away while Rachel sorted them for the laundry. Quinn got the baby settled in her crib and fell back to her bed and sighed. It was still early but she was exhausted having worked late the previous night to help Chuck organize one of the storerooms. She smiled when the bed shifted and Rachel curled up next to her and wrapped an arm tight around her waist.

"We don't get to do this enough," Rachel sighed.

"Agreed."

Quinn rolled her head to the side to face her girlfriend and smiled. Rachel stretched her head forward and pressed her lips to Quinn's. Her tongue darted between her lips and Quinn's mouth opened to accept it eagerly. Rachel pulled away long enough to situate herself on top of the blonde, her hips settling between Quinn's legs.

"What about…" Quinn didn't have time to finish the question because Rachel's lips were back on hers and Rachel's tongue was in her mouth and her hands were roaming up under her t-shirt.

Before Quinn could protest her shirt was flying to the foot of the bed and Rachel's joined it. Quinn let out a soft moan when Rachel's almost bare torso made contact with hers. Quinn's mind was racing; this was by far the furthest they had gone, both were too busy or too exhausted since school began to think about anything remotely sexual and before that they were just testing the waters with soft kisses every now and then. Whatever Rachel was doing to her now was so much better than with Puck. He was sweaty and heavy and his breath reeked of alcohol. Rachel was perfect. She was soft and her touches were light. And she tasted like strawberries. Quinn wrapped her arms around Rachel's back and pulled her in as close as she possibly could which wasn't much closer since Rachel was lying on top of her.

Rachel's lips strayed from Quinn's and she pressed soft kisses up the blonde's jaw and down her neck. Rachel stopped at Quinn's collarbone to bite and suck, marking her territory. Quinn didn't protest, she only let out a whimper and kept gripping Rachel's back. Her fingertips roamed to Rachel's bra strap and she tugged at it. When Rachel didn't show any sign of resistance Quinn unhooked it and slipped the straps off the tan girl's shoulders. Rachel hesitated for a moment, looking up into Quinn's eyes.

"You don't have to," Quinn whispered.

Rachel took a deep breath and slipped the material off of her shoulders and discarded it next to them on the bed. Quinn kept her eyes locked with the brunette's. She pulled her back down and kissed her, her fingertips exploring Rachel's now bare back.

"You're so beautiful, Rach," Quinn moaned into the girl's ear.

Just as Rachel pushed her hands underneath Quinn's now arched back there was a knock at the door.

Rachel squealed and rolled off the bed onto the floor.

"Just a minute!" Quinn called out. Rachel tossed Quinn her shirt and the blonde threw Rachel her bra. As soon as Rachel was decent Quinn leapt out of the bed and opened her door. Rachel was at her side a millisecond later.

"Hi Daddy!"

Jim raised an eyebrow at the two smiling girls. "Just wanted to say goodnight."

"Oh," Quinn said, attempting to sound as though she wasn't just moments away from getting to second base with the man's daughter. "Well…goodnight!"

"Love you, Daddy!"

"Love you too, Rachel. Goodnight Quinn."

Jim turned to go down the hallway to the master suite. He stopped a few steps away from the door and turned back around.

"Rachel honey, you might want to put your shirt on properly before your dad gets up here."

Rachel looked down at her shirt, it was not only on backwards but inside out. Jim turned back and Quinn closed the bedroom door. Rachel quickly fixed her t-shirt. Quinn kept staring at the closed door.

"We are _never_ doing that while your dads are home _ever_ again!"

Rachel only smiled and pulled Quinn into a hug. Her arms wrapped around the blonde's neck and she settled her head on Quinn's shoulder. Quinn's hands settled on Rachel's hips and the two swayed to Rachel's soft humming.

"Rachel?"

"Hm?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

Rachel lifted her head up from Quinn's shoulder and looked up into the blonde's hazel eyes.

"Why'd you say yes when I asked you out? I mean, I honestly never expected you to say yes…at least not that quickly."

"It was a logical step. Obviously our friendship had…"

"I don't want to hear about logic, I want to hear about what you felt. I want to know what you feel…"

Rachel pulled away completely and sat down on Quinn's bed. She pulled her knees up to her chest and sighed.

"Rachel?"

"I'm scared."

Quinn joined Rachel on the bed and wrapped an arm around her waist. "Why?"

"When we were in the operating room and you…when I thought there was a chance I might lose you it was so, so scary, Quinn. That was when I knew that I might…I _knew_ I felt something for you other than what I was supposed to."

"What were you supposed to feel?"

"Not like this," Rachel whispered. "I was supposed to feel like this about Finn, not you."

"Are you saying…"

"I don't know what I'm saying, Quinn. I'm still not sure exactly what I feel for you but it's something…and…and it's really, really strong."

"Why is that so scary though? I'm not going to hurt you, Rach."

"It's just something new and I'm not in control of it. You know how I hate losing control. I…Finn was lust and I could control it. I could control him…It's not the same with you and it scares me. I can't, nor do I want to control you. At the same time it's a complete feeling of helplessness because it's all just really unexpected."

"Of course. We'll just…we'll take things slow. I…I'm sorry if I crossed a line tonight."

"I'm not talking about the physical part of the relationship. If anything I'd prefer to speed that part up a bit." Rachel blushed. "My emotions are just very complex right now."

Quinn's mouth curled into a devious smile. "You really did mean that speech you gave in Celibacy Club last year, didn't you?"

Rachel smiled. "You know you want it, too."

"Well just…just promise me you'll be open about how you're feeling? No matter how complex it is?"

Rachel nodded.

Quinn smiled and yawned and Rachel shook her head.

"Already using the 'I'm too tired' card, hm?" Rachel teased. "Isn't that for married people?"

"Again, we're not doing anything while your dads are home and it's almost curfew time anyways."

Rachel grinned and moved up to put her head on Quinn's pillows. She put her hands behind her head and stared up at the ceiling. "They said no sneaking…"

"You know they won't go for that argument."

"Well then come up here and join me while we still have a few minutes."

Quinn obliged and curled up next to Rachel and was vaguely aware of her bedroom door opening and heard Chuck's voice, then Rachel's, then Chuck's again followed by a blanket covering her and footsteps. The next thing she was aware of was her alarm clock going off signaling that it was 6:30, time to get ready for school. She reached over to shut it off and in the process her elbow connected hard with something that yelled and swore loudly.

"Quinn! Ow!" Rachel hit the floor with a loud crash and Quinn sat up and looked at the floor, Rachel was rubbing her forehead and whimpering.

"I didn't even know you were in here! Rachel I am so sorry!"

Jim and Chuck came running into the bedroom and looked at Rachel who was still on the floor.

"What happened!?" Jim exclaimed.

"I reached over to turn off my alarm clock…I had no idea she was still in here! Oh God, Rachel are you okay?"

"I think so…you have really sharp elbows."

Elizabeth roused at all the commotion and started crying. Quinn sprang up out of bed and to her daughter while Jim and Chuck helped Rachel up.

"It's okay baby girl," Quinn cooed. "Mommy just smacked Rachel in the forehead, get used to it." Quinn looked over at Rachel and winked. The brunette smiled and stuck out her tongue. By the time the girls got to school Rachel was sporting a golf ball sized bruise and knot in the middle of her forehead. At glee practice she told Puck that Quinn "got a little carried away this morning" and left it at that. Quinn yelled at Finn who was listening nearby to think about the mailman when she saw his face go pale.


	16. Chapter 15

**-Chapter 15-**

Thanksgiving was overlooked due to Hanukkah starting so closely to it that year. Rachel demanded that absolutely everything be perfect for Elizabeth's first Hanukkah. She polished the menorah until it literally sparkled when on the mantelpiece and insisted on dragging up every single decoration that hinted at Judaism up from the basement. Quinn had fought incessantly with Puck about where their daughter would be spending her first major Jewish holiday and it was finally settled that Puck would come over to the Berry house on the first, third, fifth, and seventh nights and Quinn, Rachel, and Elizabeth would go to his house for the other days. When Chuck hinted at Christmas it sent Rachel into another frenzy, planning the weekend after Hanukkah getting all of those decorations down and all of the Christmas decorations up.

"You're aware she's going to love the wrapping paper more than anything else, right?" Quinn asked Rachel one night the week before the holiday while Elizabeth was between them on the living room floor playing with plastic blocks.

"Setting an established routine early in childhood is important if you wish to continue carrying the tradition."

"It would be pointless to tell your dads not to get her anything, wouldn't it?"

"Yes, it would be."

"Then I'll just tell you. Don't get her anything."

Rachel grinned and ran her fingers through Elizabeth's fine blonde hair. "Well now that would just be absolutely no fun at all!"

"Rachel! You've already outdone yourself decorating the entire house up one side and down the other…"

Rachel leaned over and silenced Quinn with a kiss and a smile. Elizabeth giggled and drooled. The brunette grabbed the baby's designated drool rag and wiped her mouth. Quinn looked down at her daughter and smiled, Elizabeth smiled back.

"I think she's getting ready to cut another tooth," Quinn said, inspecting the infant's mouth. "Another lower. And maybe an upper."

"Teething rings are still in the freezer."

"I hope another ear infection doesn't come with these," Quinn sighed.

Rachel glanced over to Elizabeth who had maneuvered herself up on all fours and was rocking back and forth. She nudged Quinn and the pair watched as Elizabeth eyed one of the blocks she had tossed across the floor. Rachel pulled out her phone and immediately started recording.

"I think she's going to do it…" Quinn whispered.

"She almost had it the other day but she faceplanted."

Quinn squealed a little when Elizabeth's right arm shot out in front of her followed by her left and she pulled herself forward. The tiny blonde looked around and repeated the action until she reached her goal and flopped on top of the red block.

"We have movement!" Rachel squealed.

"Officially mobile!"

Rachel and Quinn high fived and Rachel sent the video to the entire glee club and her dads who had gone out to dinner with some of Jim's coworkers. They spent the rest of the evening chasing after Elizabeth who quickly got the hang of scooting away from both girls and turned it into a game. When Jim and Chuck got home the four of them chased Elizabeth all around the ground floor of the house. Quinn and Rachel were surprised at how quickly she could move once she got the hang of it. Chuck rummaged around the basement and brought up a few baby gates Quinn had invested in when Elizabeth had first shown signs of attempting to crawl. He fixed them to the top and bottom of the staircase, the doorway that led to the basement and Jim's study, and in the doorway separating the kitchen from the living room.

Jim's parents drove in from upstate New York for Hanukkah that year, Quinn was fairly certain it had something to do with Rachel gushing to them about their pseudo-great-granddaughter since day one. They oohed and awed over Elizabeth and the baby immediately took to them. Being passed around by the glee club since she was a newborn, Elizabeth was always comfortable with whoever paid her any attention.

Puck joined them for the candle lighting and prayers and gifts the first night. His mother and sister had sent over the presents Elizabeth was to open while at the Berry house. Elizabeth was dwarfed by the pile of presents she had to open on the first night alone. Quinn sat on the floor with the baby in her lap, Puck on their left side, Rachel leapt around taking pictures. Quinn showed Elizabeth how to tug at the paper and once she figured it out the little girl tore at everything she could get her hands on. She rolled around in the pile of paper and played with the bows, completely ignoring her new outfits, toys, and hand-carved and painted dreidels from Jim's dad.

The nights at Puck's was similar to the night at the Berry's as was every night until the seventh. Jim's mother cooked an entire spread of traditional Hanukkah foods and Elizabeth loved her first taste of _latkes_. Two large objects covered by blankets with cards reading Elizabeth's and Quinn's names on top had appeared in the Berry living room sometime during the day and Quinn was driving Rachel insane trying to guess as to what they might be. The one with Quinn's card on top of it was perfectly rectangular, the other had a rectangular base but was domed at the top. Rachel would only smile sweetly and tell Quinn that patience was a virtue. As soon as Puck arrived and the candle was lit and prayers were said Quinn settled down next to the large objects with Elizabeth in her lap.

Quinn waited patiently as all of the other gifts were unwrapped, including a gift card from Puck for Rachel and Quinn to go out to a nice dinner the next time he took Elizabeth for the weekend. Jim's father knelt behind Quinn and Elizabeth when he spotted the blonde eying the two blankets. Quinn absentmindedly reached forward but jerked her hand back when she felt a hand on her shoulder

"You know you want to," Jim's father with a low laugh. "But before you do I just want you to know that you're not just a girl that lives here with her baby to us. You're family, and since you're family that means you each get one of these."

Rachel quickly grabbed hold of the blankets and pulled them away to reveal two hope chests, side by side. Quinn's was dark brown with ornate patterns carved in the front and her name painted in gold script on the lid. Elizabeth's was white with flowers and swirling patterns carved in it and her name in pale pink on the domed lid.

"The last one I built and carved was Rachel's for her first Hanukkah," Jim's father said. "My hand was more steady then so these aren't perfect…"

"They're…beautiful…" Quinn gasped. Her mind flashed to the white chest at the end of Rachel's bed in her room, the deep brown one in Jim's study, and the black one at the foot of Jim and Chuck's bed. She had never asked the brunette where the beautiful pieces of furniture came from but now that she knew all she could do was run her hands over them both and cry. Elizabeth crawled off of Quinn's lap and over to Puck and Quinn turned and embraced Jim's father.

"Thank you…so much…" she sobbed. "I…I don't know what to say."

Quinn pulled away and wiped away the tears that were streaming down her face. Rachel's arms wrapped around her waist from the back and she turned her head back to meet the brunette in a kiss.

"I thought about having them save yours for Christmas but that would've just been cruel," Rachel whispered. "So Happy Hanukkah, Quinn."

Quinn smiled and kissed Rachel again. "You have no idea how much I love you, Rachel."

"I think I do."

"Really now?" Quinn turned around and Rachel moved to sit next to her. Rachel's hand found Quinn's and their foreheads rested together.

"Really. I love you, too."

Quinn stopped breathing for what she was sure was at least an hour when Rachel uttered those words. She was certain the entire world stopped spinning and everyone ceased to exist except her and Rachel. Quinn pulled away slightly, eyes wide and her lower lip caught between her teeth to keep from screaming.

"You…"

Rachel nodded. Quinn, still completely sure that she and Rachel were the only ones on the face of the planet, lunged forward and attacked Rachel's lips hungrily. All she knew was that Rachel was responding and fingers were threaded through her hair and there was a hand on her hip and for a few seconds she was in heaven. She was broken out of it by someone clearing their throat loudly and Rachel ripping away from her.

"Sorry," Quinn mumbled. "Just kind of…got caught up in the moment." She glanced at Puck who was still holding Elizabeth, jaw slightly open.

"Perfectly understandable," Jim's mother said. "When Carl and I were teenagers we couldn't keep our hands off of each other!"

"Betty, these young'uns don't want to hear about that!"

"You met when you were teenagers?" Quinn asked curiously.

"Actually," Betty said, "We grew up together. We met at synagogue and immediately gravitated towards each other and our parents were good friends. We did lose touch a bit as we got older but then one day when I was thirteen and Carl was fourteen he decided it would be funny to put a toad in my desk at school."

"I expected her to be like any of the other girls and be scared of it…"

"I just took and put it in his lunch pail and then _he_ was the one screaming like a girl when it hopped out at him during lunch!"

"I will maintain until the day I die that it was Joseph Barnes that screamed."

"He still tried to play horrible tricks on me but I just ignored him. He was just a boy being a boy and trying to impress his friends. Then, the summer before we were to start school when I was fifteen and he was sixteen there was a big Fourth of July block party in town and a few days before the party my father called me into the sitting room and there was Carl standing there with a bouquet of daisies, my favorite. He had asked my father's permission to escort me to the block party and I haven't looked at another man since!"

Quinn nudged Rachel and the brunette giggled. "Sounds familiar," Quinn said with a smile.

Quinn turned back to the two hope chests and started to open the lid on hers only to have Rachel slam it shut.

"Not until tomorrow," Rachel said. "I didn't get a chance to tie the lids shut but if I catch you peeking you'll regret it."

Quinn growled.

Rachel and Quinn entered the Puckerman house the next night. Puck's mother took Elizabeth immediately and started cooing over her and took her to the kitchen.

"So I've been thinkin'," Puck said as he fell onto one of the chairs.

"That's scary," Quinn said. She sat on the couch and Rachel joined her.

"We're not having a threesome, Noah."

Puck looked at Rachel and let out a groan. He turned his attention to the TV and Quinn reached over to smack him in the back of the head.

"Ow!"

"Pig."

After dinner and lighting the final candle on the Puckerman's menorah everyone watched as the final presents were unwrapped. Puck presented Quinn with a small box and Rachel almost punched him.

"It's not a ring! Back off!"

Rachel stepped back and watched Quinn unwrap the box.

"It's not for you, it's for the baby," Puck said. "But it's too small for me to give her and she'd like choke on it or something."

Quinn opened the box and inside was a small gold Star of David on a gold chain. Rachel gasped and yanked the box from her hands.

"Noah! Is this real?! It's gorgeous!"

"Yeah, it is. I've been saving for it since I found out Q was pregnant. The one thing my dad did for me was give me one for my first Hanukkah. I wanted to do the same for her except I won't be skipping out of town on her or anything."

"It's beautiful, Puck."

Puck smiled, Quinn could tell that he was proud of himself.

When the two Fabrays and the Berry returned to Rachel's house to find everyone else had already gone to bed and Quinn immediately sat herself in front of the two hope chests that remained in the living room. Rachel sighed and sat herself down next to her girlfriend and took Elizabeth.

"Go on," Rachel said.

Quinn opened Elizabeth's first and pulled out a small quilt. Quinn gasped and ran her fingers over the square yellow and pink patches. "Did you…"

"I did."

"When?!"

"Whenever I could but you're rather difficult to dodge. That's the reason it's not full size but I figure it'll be okay for a few years."

Quinn leaned over and gave Rachel a quick peck on the lips and smiled. "You're amazing, Rachel." The blonde draped the blanket over Elizabeth who was attempting to fight off sleep in Rachel's arms. She turned back to the chests and opened her own to find a queen sized red and white patched quilt of her own.

"Grandma Berry did this one," Rachel said. "She taught me a few summers ago when I went to stay with them for a while."

Quinn held the quilt close to her and cried. She again thanked Jim's parents profusely the next morning before they departed. Elizabeth's hope chest was left in the living room since there was barely room to walk in her and Quinn's room before Quinn's chest was moved in and now it was almost hazardous how little floor space they had with Quinn's chest resting at the foot of her bed. Quinn filled the white box with the toys the baby had received for Hanukkah and was sure there would be more to add after Christmas. Quinn tucked away the comforter on her bed, changing it out for the quilt from Rachel's grandmother. Elizabeth slept with hers every night and it soon became her safety blanket, the infant didn't dare let it out of her sight. Rachel was pleased.

The entire glee club congregated at the Berry house two days after Christmas to give Elizabeth their presents. Kurt, Santana, and Brittany had teamed up and Kurt designed outfits for the baby, Santana bought the materials, and Brittany worked her magic with a sewing machine and made them come to life. Mercedes put together a few mix CDs and her dad sent over a basket of things to keep Elizabeth's new teeth in top shape. Artie and Tina bought her a wagon and Artie was working on building an attachment to his chair so he could pull it when it was warm enough to go to the park again. Matt and Mike weren't entirely sure what to get her so they invested in a gift card to Toys R Us which they were assured would be put to good use. Finn showed up late and handed Quinn a box. She hugged him and he awkwardly hugged back.

"My mom wants to see her again," he mumbled. "Puck's brought her by a few times when he's had her on weekends but mom wants to see you, too. Make sure you're doing okay and everything."

Quinn nodded. Finn headed back toward the door but the blonde caught him. "Stay for a while? You know she loves it when you play with her."

Finn shrugged his shoulders and turned back around to the crowd. Rachel handed off Elizabeth to him and he smiled and held her up in the air. The baby squealed and wiggled and Finn laughed.

"She loves her Uncle Finn," Quinn said, slipping an arm around Rachel's waist.

"She loves all of her aunts and uncles."

"Yeah, but I think Finn's kind of special to her. She always lights up when she sees him."

"He'll be a great dad someday."

Quinn smiled upon hearing Elizabeth's high pitched giggle and watched Finn blow raspberries on the infant's stomach before lifting her up in the air again. He held Elizabeth as she opened his gift, it was a set of big plastic dinosaurs. Finn played with her and roared and pretended to be a dinosaur and Elizabeth chewed on the dinosaur's heads and Finn laughed again.


	17. Chapter 16

**-Chapter 16-**

A week before Valentine's Day Rachel stopped speaking to Quinn. The blonde had absolutely no idea what she'd done wrong and when she tried to coax it out of her girlfriend she was met with nothing but growls and shrugs. Quinn just left it alone and continued planning her small surprise for Rachel. Since Valentine's Day was on a Monday that year, Quinn's plans revolved around the weekend. Puck was picking up Elizabeth from the babysitter Friday and keeping her for the weekend. It took a lot of convincing and begging but Quinn finally got Rachel's dads to agree to go away for the weekend because she insisted they needed time to themselves. She accidentally overheard a conversation they had before they gave her their definite answer and she wasn't able to look them in the eye for weeks.

"Jim, I am not leaving those two alone in this house for a weekend."

"Really, Chuck? I mean, honestly, you think that they're both innocent little angels? Did Elizabeth get here by immaculate conception?"

"But Rachel…"

"Ha! You _honestly_ think she didn't have sex with that Finn boy?"

"That is something I don't want to think about!"

"Well I kind of had to considering I was the one that gave her the condoms."

"Jim! You what?!"

"It was either that or run the risk of a second child joining the family. She was going to do it. Just like with Quinn. If it hasn't already happened, it will."

"I can't believe you're condoning this."

"Well I would also like to spend a weekend away with my husband, is that too much to ask?"

The answer for Quinn was of course a yes and she started ordering flowers and browsing shops for chocolates. It was cliché, of course, but it was Valentine's Day and it was supposed to be all about clichés and sappy love stuff. However, with Rachel's attitude, Quinn wasn't sure it was going to happen at all if the brunette kept up. Friday afternoon after glee club practice Rachel stormed out of the room and Quinn followed close behind.

"Rachel!"

The brunette just kept walking.

"Rachel, get back here or you're walking home!"

Rachel stopped and turned. Quinn grabbed her arm and dragged her to an empty classroom.

"I'm fed up with this, Rach. Tell me what is going on with you!"

"I'm mad at you, I thought you got the message."

"I got the message clear as day. The question is _why_ are you mad at me?"

"You honestly have no idea?"

"No clue."

Rachel growled and pointed to a calendar on the classroom wall. "Taken a look at one of those lately?"

"Frequently, I have one on my bedroom wall."

"And Monday is?"

Quinn blinked. "Are you serious? You're mad at me because Monday is Valentine's Day and I didn't come to you a week ago about it?"

Rachel crossed her arms over her chest and glared at her girlfriend. Quinn started giggling, Rachel's face turned purple. Quinn had to brace herself up against the wall because she was laughing so hard and Rachel was absolutely furious looking. She attempted to leave the classroom but Quinn composed herself in time to grab Rachel's wrist.

"No, no, don't go! Okay, just…just come with me."

Quinn dragged Rachel out of the school and to the car. She drove as quickly as she could back to the Berry house. Rachel still wasn't speaking when the got inside, instead she tossed her backpack on the couch and glared at Quinn.

"Go to your room," Quinn instructed. "I'll come get you."

Rachel's look softened a bit and her right eyebrow arched curiously. Quinn pushed her toward the staircase and went to the kitchen when she heard Rachel's bedroom door slam shut. She pulled out fresh strawberries from the refrigerator and poured a bowl of sugar and a bowl of chocolate sauce. She then went upstairs, taking the baby gates down as she went, and pulled her old bed comforter out of the closet along with a bag of rose petals, a single red rose, and a box of chocolates. She ventured back downstairs and spread the blanket out in front of the fireplace and turned it on, getting the flames roaring, then retrieved pillows from the couch and tossed them all around on the floor followed by a sprinkling of rose petals. She hurried back to the kitchen and brought the strawberries, sugar, and chocolate to the living room and set them down in front of the fireplace. She looked around at her work and nodded approvingly before heading back upstairs.

Once back in her bedroom, Quinn pulled a blindfold from her desk drawer and made her way to Rachel's room. She knocked on the brunette's door and Rachel opened it slowly. She looked slightly furious.

"Did you honestly think I would forget?" Quinn asked.

Rachel only shrugged. "I just thought…I thought maybe we'd plan something together."

"Well if you find what I have planned unsuitable then I promise you get to plan for the next weekend your dads are out of town. Which, by the way, was not easy."

"You were the one that convinced them to go away?"

"Yes, and it was awkward and terrible and you get to do it next time. Now, take this," Quinn handed Rachel the blindfold, "and put it on."

"You want me to walk down the stairs blindfolded?"

"I'll hold on to you."

Rachel obliged and slipped the blindfold over her eyes and took Quinn's arm. The blonde led the brunette carefully down the stairs and over to the blanket in front of the fireplace. She guided Rachel to sit on the floor. When Rachel reached up to tug off the blindfold Quinn playfully smacked her hand away.

"Not yet," Quinn whispered. She leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on Rachel's lips. She dipped her finger into the chocolate sauce and when she pulled away she touched it to Rachel's lips and Rachel gently sucked it clean. Quinn's heart raced just watching and she leaned in for one last kiss before pulling the blindfold off of her girlfriend. Rachel looked around and smiled but it quickly disappeared when she looked back at Quinn.

"What's wrong?"

"I've been completely irrational for a week and you've been planning something beautiful for us."

"I promise, tonight you can make it up to me," Quinn said. She winked and dipped a strawberry in chocolate sauce and held it to Rachel's lips for the brunette to sample. Rachel held Quinn's hand steady and looked into her eyes as the tip of her tongue darted out and barely touched the chocolate on the strawberry. She took her time with the piece of fruit, chewing slowly, licking.

"Tease," Quinn said with a wink.

Rachel smirked and Quinn leaned forward and kissed away the juice that was trailing down Rachel's chin.

The strawberries disappeared quickly and the girls were giggling and hyper because of the sugar high. Quinn rolled over onto her back and propped herself up to look at the fire. Rachel obstructed her view by climbing on top of the blonde and straddling her hips. She ran her fingers through Quinn's hair and smiled.

"I think it's kind of cliché to do this for the first time on Valentine's Day, don't you?" Rachel teased.

"I've waited this long, I can go longer."

"When Hell freezes over."

Rachel leaned in and pressed her lips to her girlfriend's. Clothes were discarded, bodies entwined and rolled around on the floor, fingers and lips explored and it was only slightly awkward a few times trying to figure out angles and positions but as far as Quinn was concerned, it was perfect. The pair curled into each other, sweaty and breathing heavy, in front of the fireplace and Quinn placed a soft kiss on her lover's forehead. Rachel smiled and hummed softly, Quinn hummed along and after a few bars they sang quietly, the tune of "Keep Holdin' On" escaping their lips followed by giggles and kisses and a second round.


	18. Chapter 17

**-Chapter 17-**

By March, regionals were done and over with. New Directions again barely edged over Vocal Adrenaline and they were planning their trip to Branson for Nationals in late May. Elizabeth was crawling and pulling up and reaching for absolutely everything she could. Quinn was sure, considering the circumstances, that her life couldn't be more perfect. She and Rachel were looking at colleges, of course Rachel was working harder than ever to ensure she would be accepted to Julliard. Quinn convinced her to at least have a second and a third so Rachel looked into NYU and OSU (as a last resort).

Ever since Valentine's Day, Rachel had been pushing Quinn to have what Quinn was sure would be the most terrifying discussion of her life with Rachel's dads. Finally, just after St. Patrick's Day, Quinn reluctantly agreed.

"Don't be nervous, Quinn," Rachel said. She played with the placemat at her place at the kitchen table. Quinn could tell the brunette was just as nervous as she was.

"Your dads aren't going to agree to this, Rach, they're just not. I would really like to stay on their good side and asking if we can share a bed does not seem like the kind of thing we should ask in order for me to do that."

"You've been living here for well over a year, they love you and they're not going to throw you out. The worst they'll do is say no."

Quinn sighed and bounced Elizabeth on her knee. She and Rachel waited patiently for Jim and Chuck to join them in the kitchen. The men sat down, Jim across from Quinn and Chuck from Rachel. Rachel grabbed onto Quinn's hand on the tabletop and the blonde took a deep breath.

"Okay," Chuck said. "Let's have it, what are you two up to?"

"Dad, Daddy…Quinn and I would like your permission to start sharing a bedroom."

"No."

"Dad!"

"The answer is no, Rachel."

"Do I get a say in this?"

"Jim, we have rules! If this were a boyfriend of either of the girls asking this the answer would be a firm 'no'. I'm not going to teach them that double standards are okay, even if they do work to their advantage."

"Chuck, I know we agree on most things but I don't agree with you on this one. The girls are responsible, mature young adults and it's not like either of them can get pregnant! If they're going to have sex it doesn't matter whether or not we allow them to sleep in the same room or not."

"Ew, Daddy!"

"Rachel, you're not helping the 'mature' case here."

"Sorry."

"Chuck, double standards happen, it's a fact of society. Hell, if it had been that Finn boy from Rachel's school that got kicked out of his house with or without a kid would we have allowed him to move in here? If Quinn were a boy would we have allowed her to take Rachel on a date in the first place last summer? If Rachel had a boyfriend would we have gone away over Valentine's weekend? You know as well as I do that we wouldn't have. The entire situation is full of double standards, what's one more?"

"Girls, will you go upstairs and us a minute to talk?"

Quinn and Rachel nodded and stood. Quinn dropped her head as they walked out of the room.

"I _told_ you this was a bad idea," she hissed at Rachel on the way up the stairs.

They sat themselves down on the top step, not really wanting to go into their separate rooms but knowing that this probably wasn't an appropriate time to be in one room alone together.

"Don't forget we've got the ACT this weekend," Rachel said to break the silence.

"Yeah, I know. Puck's taking Lizzy while we test."

"Quinn?"

"Yeah?"

"What happens if…"

"Not now, Rachel. We've still got a year and four months to figure out the answer to that question."

"It's going to go by fast."

"We'll deal with it later. We should just…focus on our tests and applications right now."

"But Quinn…"

Quinn sighed with relief when Jim walked out of the kitchen and motioned for the pair to come back to the kitchen. The girls resumed their previous positions at the table, everyone smiled at Elizabeth who was incoherently babbling away.

"She got it from you, you know," Quinn said, looking at Rachel. Rachel smiled and took Quinn's free hand into her own.

"Here's the deal," Jim said. "Starting this weekend, after your ACT, Quinn can move her things into Rachel's room and we will take the spare bed into the basement so things are less cramped in there."

Rachel and Quinn both smiled.

"But," Chuck said, "If at _any_ point, we feel it's not working out then we go back to the previous arrangement. I mean it, the minute you two start fighting over anything related to this or we think you're not getting enough sleep then Quinn's bed will come back upstairs and that will be it."

"And for the sake of your Dad's sanity, keep _things_ quiet, hm?"

"Daddy!" Rachel squealed.

Quinn turned bright red and snapped her eyes down to the kitchen table. Jim threw back his head and laughed, Chuck grumbled under his breath.

Quinn's bed was stored in the basement along with all of her other things that had been cleaned out of the storage locker. She kept her clothes in Elizabeth's room because Rachel's clothing took up every drawer and the entire closet.

Even with the baby monitor it took three weeks before Quinn slept through the entire night without getting up to check on Elizabeth at least once. At one point Rachel threatened to tie her to the bed and Quinn only gave an evil smile and said the brunette was more than welcome to try.

Elizabeth's first birthday was a weekend barbeque at the Berry house. Puck manned the grill, turning out burgers and hotdogs. Quinn smacked him upside the head when he suggested bringing a keg. His mother also smacked him when she found out why Quinn had smacked him. Rachel had her camera going the entire time, Elizabeth had been contemplating walking for the passed week and the brunette said she would never forgive herself if the baby's first steps weren't on video. Mr. Schuester and Ms. Pillsbury were late and when they announced why, the entire audience in the back yard broke out in cheers. He had finally proposed and the redhead accepted. Money was exchanged, Kurt had won this bet.

Elizabeth was squirming in Quinn's arms but the blonde refused to put the baby down since she was in a brand new dress that Kurt and Brittany had diligently worked on. She talked to Puck's mother about different milestones when he was younger. Quinn was worried that Elizabeth had yet to use any coherent words but Puck's mother assured her it would be just fine and that Puck himself didn't say much until about 18 months. However, Quinn's worries were shattered only minutes later when Elizabeth kept squirming and Quinn scolded her again.

"Lizzy, you can't get down. You'll get your dress dirty!"

"Down, Mama!" the baby squealed.

Quinn was silent. Rachel looked up from the screen of the video camera and her jaw dropped.

"Better than Noah's first word," Mrs. Puckerman said with a smile.

Rachel jumped up and down excitedly and almost dropped her camera, much to Elizabeth's protests, Quinn held on tighter to her and twirled her around. The infant kept repeating her new word to anyone that would listen and she would clap and squeal at any response.

"She also got that from you," Quinn said, coming up behind Rachel who was aiming the camera at Finn who was holding onto Elizabeth's hands and helping her walk across the concrete patio.

"Hm?"

"Soaking up the spotlight."

"She deserves it. Finn's going to have back problems if he keeps stooping over like that."

"He loves it though."

"Yes but it could impair his after graduation plans to enlist."

Quinn stepped around to Rachel's front and pushed the camera down. Rachel hit pause and looked up at her girlfriend, eyebrow arched curiously.

"What do you mean?"

"He never told you?"

"No!"

"He told me last year. He said that he looked at colleges and just couldn't find something he was passionate enough about to fully pursue it so he was thinking of joining the military. I haven't asked him about it recently but last I knew that was his plan."

"He can't do that! He's just…he's confused! Mrs. Hudson would never allow it!"

"What wouldn't she allow?" Finn asked, coming up to the girls, Elizabeth in his arms.

"The military, Finn?! Are you insane?"

Finn sighed. "It's either that or become a Lima loser."

"You can go to college!"

"I don't have anything that I can see myself doing. My dad was a hero, everyone always talks about how great a hero he was. I want my kids to be proud of me like I'm proud of him."

"Your kids will be proud of you as long as you love them."

"Q, it's just an idea for now, okay? If something happens in the next year and I find something I'm good at then I'll go to college. It's not like it'd be really dangerous or anything though. All that stuff is done with, I saw it on the news."

Quinn sighed and hugged the tall boy.

After cake, ice cream, and presents the crowd started dispersing. Elizabeth fell asleep on the platform of her new backyard playground, a gift from the entire glee club plus Rachel and her dads. Quinn insisted she was too young for it, everyone else insisted she'd grow into it. Puck's arms were tired from holding her as she went down the slide over and over. By the end of the day she'd called him 'Daddy' and Quinn swore she saw him wipe away a few tears.

"We should figure out what she's going to call you," Quinn whispered after she and Rachel tucked the sleeping girl into her crib and turned on the baby monitor.

"Rachel is fine with me." Rachel closed the bedroom door quietly and the two made their way to their bedroom and flopped down on the bed. They laid side by side, fingers entwined.

"What about when we get married, though?"

Rachel's eyes widened. "Huh?"

Quinn swallowed hard. "Nothing, just forget about it."

Rachel remained silent.

Things were awkward and tense for a while after the 'm' word was brought up. Even Elizabeth's first steps the weekend after her birthday weren't enough to cut through the tension that both Quinn and Rachel felt. It didn't go unnoticed by Jim and Chuck but they attempted to stay out of it as much as possible. Quinn had no idea what Rachel was feeling but she was sure it was probably something close to what she herself was feeling. She was apprehensive, there were still four years of college after high school and if Rachel was in New York and Quinn was in Lima, would they even survive that long? They'd only officially been dating for less than a year even though Quinn knew Rachel had been in denial about her feelings long before then. Hugs and kisses felt awkward and almost forced they forgot about sex altogether. Quinn would simply drape an arm around Rachel's waist before they fell asleep. To add to all of it, nationals were approaching fast and Rachel was under even more stress that she put on herself to be absolutely perfect.

The relationship tension was forced to be cut when nationals came. Quinn cried at having to leave Elizabeth for four days with Jim and Chuck. Rachel held onto Quinn closely as they walked through airport security and it took Rachel and Finn to hold on to her from running back when she heard her daughter start to cry. The blonde called Jim and Chuck before they took off, when they landed, when they got to the hotel, and before going out to dinner. After the last phone call Jim called Rachel and she promised to hide Quinn's phone until they called before putting Elizabeth to bed. Quinn was furious and didn't speak to the brunette all through dinner.

Rachel also confiscated the blonde's phone the entire next day, insisting she needed to focus on rehearsals and choreography and promised an unlimited phone call when they got back to the hotel as a reward if Quinn would stay focused. It was hard but she did it and stayed on the phone for an hour that night before going to bed early. The next day was preliminary competition and Mr. Schuester was strictly enforcing a ten o'clock curfew that even Puck wasn't arguing with.

Their performance time was two in the afternoon, Rachel allowed Quinn to call and talk to Elizabeth and her dads beforehand for good luck. Quinn barely remembered the performance. She remembered small bits, like the crowd going insane after each number and Rachel taking her hand for one of the dance moves and the brunette brushing up against her when they glided passed one another even though she never remembered that being part of the original choreography. She remembered the end, watching from behind and glancing up to see Rachel, center stage, arms outstretched and belting out the last note of the song and the lights going dark. When the curtain dropped it was dark but she felt Rachel's small body leap onto hers and Rachel kissed her. For the first time in weeks it didn't feel awkward or forced because of the lingering thoughts of the conversation after Elizabeth's birthday and stress because of performance. It was just her and Rachel and Quinn knew things were okay.

New Directions made it to the top twenty and would perform again the next day for the finals competition. Rachel was much more relaxed than she had been before the first performance, as was everyone else. They'd made it to finals and that was way more than anyone had expected of them. When fifth, fourth, and third place were announced and their name didn't echo through the performance hall Quinn watched as Rachel's shoulders slumped and the brunette looked at the floor. Some choir from New York City took second. Rachel started heading towards the dressing rooms when they heard it. They heard "New Directions from Lima, Ohio" echo after "And the winner of the 2011 National Show Choir Invitational is…" Rachel froze and turned on her heel. No one moved until an usher pushed Mr. Schuester onto the stage and the rest of the club followed behind. The trophy was the biggest trophy any of them had ever seen. Again, Quinn was only aware of her and Rachel when the brunette jumped up to wrap her arms around the blonde's neck and kissed her, right there in front of more people than Quinn cared to think about.

They were met at the airport by the majority of the glee club parents as well as Principal Figgins. The trophy was too big to take on the plane but it arrived at the school a week later. Half of one of the Cheerios trophy cases just inside the main door was cleared out to make way for it. The school year came to a close and the glee kids agreed to resume their babysitting schedule for the summer. Chuck surprised Quinn on the last day of school by giving her a set of keys to the store, Rachel showed her exactly how proud of her she was later that night. Three times.

Rachel finally got Elizabeth to say her name except it came out more like "Rawr" and Finn complained that he wanted to be called "Rawr" because it was like a dinosaur and dinosaurs were just awesome. However, when Elizabeth did say his name he was perfectly content to let Rachel be "Rawr". Slowly through the summer everyone gained a name from her. Quinn still saw the small smile that crept across Puck's face every time he was greeted by the young girl running into his arms and squealing "Daddy!"

It was just before Rachel and Quinn's one year anniversary that Quinn had to take Elizabeth to the doctor for yet another ear infection and it was collectively decided that the baby should have tubes put in her ears. Quinn paced the floor in the doctor's office the morning of the procedure and Puck yelled at two different nurses when it was five minutes passed when the procedure was supposed to be done. Rachel couldn't help but giggle when the doctor told them that Elizabeth would be drunk from the medicine for a while. Quinn glared at her and she kissed the blonde's cheek and apologized.

Their one year anniversary was spent with Rachel making Quinn broth and bringing her clear liquids because the blonde had managed to somehow get a stomach virus. They figured it was probably from the doctor's office after Elizabeth's checkup. Puck took Elizabeth for the week so she didn't run the risk of contracting anything and Ms. Pillsbury showed up after she'd heard through the grapevine that Quinn was sick and the redhead sanitized the entire nursery. When they finally did get to celebrate it was simple, dinner at the restaurant they'd eaten at on their first date and they put in _The Wizard of Oz_ when they got home_, _though not much movie watching took place.


	19. Chapter 18

**-Chapter 18-**

When school resumed Quinn became increasingly agitated with her girlfriend. Rachel went completely crazy. She started going through her application process to Julliard which involved sending in a vocal recording for the admissions office to decide whether or not she should get a live audition. Rachel fired Mr. Schuester three times as her vocal coach and he finally resorted to pleading to Quinn to get the brunette to try and calm down.

Quinn cornered Rachel just before sectionals, right after a practice where the brunette actually completely forgot the lyrics to one of their songs where she had a solo. She grabbed onto Rachel's hand and dragged her to a classroom and sat her in one of the chairs before shutting the door.

"I know what this is about, Quinn, and I'm sorry. I know we haven't spent much time together…"

"Shut up, Rachel. This isn't about you and me right now, that discussion will be later. Right now this is about you letting down the entire glee club."

"I forgot the lyrics, I know. But it's not a big…"

"Yeah, you did, and to you it may not be a big deal but to everyone else in there," Quinn pointed to the general direction of the choir room, "it is a big deal. Everyone knows you're going to be some big star someday, you know it, I know it, they know it. However, for the rest of us who are less talented, getting to nationals is our only shot of having something like that."

"Interesting coming from someone whose goal it was to once sabotage the aforementioned club."

"Don't start with me, Berry." Quinn only resorted to Rachel's last name when she was really, _really_ pissed. And Rachel knew it. "Your demo for Julliard isn't due for three weeks and you've already got your songs picked out and ready to go and if you'd just record them already then you'd be able to focus on sectionals which is in a week, or did you forget about that?"

"I didn't forget, _Fabray_. But Julliard is my…"

"Would you stop thinking about yourself for once you stuck-up, selfish brat?!" Quinn yelled. "You were the one that started New Directions, remember?! This was _your_ dream! Now you're going to walk away from it?"

Rachel's jaw dropped slightly but she quickly squared up her shoulders. "I believe you just broke rule number…"

"You leave our personal lives out of this, Rachel. Right now this isn't about you and me. This is about those people in there that want to be a part of something special. Or have you forgotten that being a part of something special makes you special? Isn't that what you told Schuester? If you're going to keep this up then you won't be welcome. Mercedes has been understudying for you, you know? Schuester's been coaching her while you throw your tantrums and if you don't get it together soon then you're screwed."

Quinn turned and opened the classroom door.

"You're sleeping on the couch tonight," Rachel growled.

Quinn looked over her shoulder and snorted. "Fine, you're a cover hog anyways. Have fun walking home."

Quinn kept her promise and drove away when she saw Rachel exit the school building. She knew no one in glee would give her a ride home and that would give the diva plenty of time to think about her priorities. What Quinn didn't expect was for it to backfire horribly.

Rachel turned in an official letter of resignation from the glee club the next afternoon and wished them luck at sectionals. When Quinn tried to catch her on her way out of the room Rachel had disappeared. When the blonde got home that evening after picking up Elizabeth she found the things that had migrated into Rachel's room sitting on the floor in front of Elizabeth's bedroom door. Quinn fought back the tears. She met Jim at the front door when he got home and quietly asked him to help move her bed back upstairs. He held on to her while she cried into his chest and she explained that it was all her fault and what she'd said.

"Honey, you know as well as I do that Rachel is a hard-headed, stubborn, determined individual that won't let anything get in the way of her dreams."

"I thought she was passed being so self-centered, though."

"Remember what I told you when Finn and Rachel started dating? Rachel's been the center of the world since the day she was born. A part of that will always be with her, especially when it's something she wants so bad."

Quinn nodded and sighed.

"Why don't you go up and try to talk to her before we move your things?"

Quinn nodded again and headed up the stairs. She knocked on their bedroom door, when there was no reply she opened it to find the brunette sitting on the bed.

"Can we talk?" Quinn asked quietly.

"I don't believe I told you that you could come in."

"It's our bedroom, I think I can come in when I want."

"Correction, Quinn. This is _my_ bedroom. Your bedroom is down the hall."

"So that's it then? You're breaking up with me because I had the guts to tell you what needed to be said? What everyone in glee club, Mr. Schue included, was thinking but didn't want to say?"

"Will Schuester keeps trying to destroy my career."

"What are you talking about?! He made you the lead for a reason!"

"He wasn't trying hard enough as my coach…"

"Here you go again! Self-centered brat!" Quinn half-yelled and rolled her eyes.

"Why do you have to be so mean?!" Rachel shrieked.

"Mr. Schuester has a wedding to plan, classes to teach, and glee club to run! Did you expect him to throw all of that away just to help you out? I've got news for you, Rachel Berry, you're not the center of the world. There are people out there that have more important things in their lives other than you. You'll go nowhere fast if you don't get that wrapped around your head real quick."

"Get out," Rachel growled.

"No."

Rachel sprang up from her bed and stood toe to toe with Quinn who stood her ground.

"Get out of my room, get out of my house."

"Is Julliard really worth throwing all of this away, Rachel? What if you don't make it? Will it be worth it then? No friends, no girlfriend, nothing. Will it have been worth it?"

Quinn knew Rachel was lying when she hissed "yes, it will be" at her then backed the blonde out of the bedroom. The fact that Rachel hesitated for a split second before answering and her eyes refused to meet Quinn's gaze was enough to let her know that the brunette was no longer sure of exactly what she wanted. That didn't stop it from hurting like a bitch. And Quinn did what she thought she was incapable of doing anymore and yelled back words with the intention of doing nothing but hurting Rachel. Something along the lines of, "Fine, Man Hands! It's over and don't expect me to come crawling back to you!"

Quinn lay on her back on the mattress that was now on Elizabeth's bedroom floor and attempted to not cry. She failed miserably. She rolled over onto her stomach and bawled into her pillow as quietly as she could so she didn't wake her daughter.


	20. Chapter 19

**-Chapter 19-**

Both girls looked like hell when they descended the stairs for breakfast the next morning. They had matching bloodshot eyes and dark circles. Elizabeth squealed when she saw Rachel and the brunette plastered on a smile and graciously took the young blonde out of her high chair when breakfast was done. Quinn tried to smile but it just wouldn't happen. Instead she quickly got ready for work and headed to the furniture store early to avoid having to see Rachel anymore.

Mercedes killed it at sectionals but inside, each one of them knew they missed Rachel and her commanding presence that somehow forced everyone to look not only at her but the entire club. Anyone who wasn't in New Directions in 2009-2010 didn't fully grasp why Rachel leaving was such a big deal. They didn't know that she a very big part of their existence. They didn't know that if it weren't for her and Finn that they would never have had a shot their first year at sectionals when the other two schools cheated. They didn't know that underneath the diva there was a girl that had once been willing to do anything and everything she could for the sake of the glee club.

Hanukkah was awkward and quiet the nights Quinn spent it at the Berry house. Quinn was almost glad to go to Puck's for the other nights to get away from the tension. She and Rachel hadn't actually spoken to each other since they had broken up and according to Quinn, it just sucked all around. She still loved Rachel, despite the brunette girl's attitude having reached a whole new level of diva. She knew that Rachel had submitted her recordings to Julliard and she was patiently waiting to hear back from them about auditions the first week of March. Jim and Chuck had talked about not letting Rachel audition at all, Quinn had overheard, because of the toll the stress was taking on her. Quinn had noticed it, too. Rachel had lost weight she couldn't stand to lose and the dark circles under her eyes were a constant. She still plastered on the smile and the air of confidence that everyone seemed to believe except for the blonde who had frequently heard Rachel's sobs coming from her room. When Rachel wasn't crying she was angry and almost yelling at her dads for trying to talk to her and Elizabeth didn't even flinch at the sound of Rachel's door slamming shut anymore.

Just like when they had fought when Rachel started dating Finn, Quinn kept trying to break down the walls even though she knew that she just needed to wait and she figured she probably should have when she attempted, again, to talk to Rachel on Christmas day.

Quinn had bought a charm bracelet for Rachel for Hanukkah just in case a miracle happened and Rachel decided to speak to her again. When it didn't she decided that Christmas would work instead. She knocked on Rachel's bedroom door, the singer had barricaded herself in there all day. Rachel growled from the other side for Quinn to come in.

"Fabray," Rachel said coldly. "Forgot you still lived here."

"If you actually ate dinner you might have noticed but since you've decide to stop…"

"What do you want?"

"Here," Quinn tossed the neatly wrapped box on Rachel's bed. "I bought it in case you started speaking to me again."

"I didn't get you anything."

Quinn shrugged. "That's fine."

"I'm not taking you back."

"I never said anything about that, did I?"

"I talked to Noah last week," Rachel said with a smirk. "Well, I suppose 'talk' would be the wrong word to describe our activities." Another smirk. "He's invited me to his New Year's party, you know? He tells me he doesn't want to date and so I've decided to employ the Brittany and Santana theory that sex isn't dating."

Quinn clenched her fists at her sides and narrowed her eyes. She knew Rachel was trying to piss her off and as much as she wanted to resist it so she wouldn't give the brunette the satisfaction, she couldn't resist a scowl.

"Have a wonderful time," Quinn growled.

"Oh, I'm sure I will," Rachel said in her best patronizing voice. "In more ways than one."

The only thing Quinn was aware of after she turned to walk out the door and hissed the words "stupid no-talent slut" was hitting the floor, face first. Rachel was straddling her back and screeching incoherently. Quinn just covered the back of her head and called out to Chuck and Jim. Rachel attempted to roll the blonde over but Quinn stayed still. Finally, Quinn saw two sets of feet and the weight was lifted from her back. She rolled over to see Jim and Chuck on either side of Rachel hauling her back to her room and closing the door. Jim held on tight to the doorknob and Rachel was yelling from inside and the door was rattling as she tried to open it.

"Quinn," Chuck knelt down by Quinn. "Honey, are you okay?"

Quinn sat up with Chuck's help and trembled as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. She nodded shakily.

"Rachel," Jim said to the closed door. "I'm only going to let you out if you agree to be civil."

There was a silence and Jim opened the door. Rachel stepped out into the hallway and glared down at Quinn. Chuck stood and pulled Quinn with him, she felt like she was five years old when she huddled halfway behind him.

"Rachel," Jim growled. "What the _hell_ is going on?"

"She called me a slut," Rachel stated. She crossed her arms over her chest. Quinn looked back down at the floor when she noticed Rachel's expression was more hurt than anger at that point.

"We don't care!" Chuck yelled. "You have absolutely _no_ reason to behave this way! What if you'd pushed her down the stairs? You could have seriously hurt her, Rachel! Whatever Quinn said or did she does not deserve to be assaulted! You are grounded at least for the rest of vacation plus two weeks not only for this but for your attitude as a whole this last month, do you hear me? I want your cordless phone, cell phone, laptop, and TV in our bedroom in fifteen minutes. We'll see how your behavior is when vacation ends as to whether or not you can have them back but you're not leaving this house except school until those two weeks are up."

"You're kidding me?" Rachel screeched. "And I bet _she'll_ get off without so much as a warning, right?"

Quinn glanced up at Jim.

"Quinn's punishment is none of your concern, Rachel."

Rachel growled and stormed back into her room. Jim looked down at Quinn and put his hand on her shoulder. Quinn winced.

"Are you okay, sweetie?"

"I think so. Just…a little shaken. I-I know I shouldn't have let her get to me and I should've just left it alone. It's my fault."

Rachel stepped out of her room with her laptop and phones. She pushed passed Quinn, making sure to push her shoulder into the blonde's back on her way to her dads' room.

"You just bought yourself another week, Rachel," Chuck said. "Don't forget the TV." He wrapped an arm around Quinn's shoulders and he and Jim led the blonde to her bedroom. Quinn checked on Elizabeth before taking a seat in her desk chair. Jim and Chuck stood hovering over her, both with concerned looks when Quinn tried to lean back in the chair but whimpered and leaned forward.

"I'm sorry," Quinn whispered.

"Sweetie you have nothing to be sorry for," Jim said.

"I think…" Quinn took a deep breath, "I think maybe it would be best if I found my own place."

"No," Chuck said sternly. "Absolutely not. If it is space you are looking for then I will gladly call a contractor and have the basement renovated for the two of you but you are not moving out. You have enough to worry about, Quinn. You don't need to add rent and bills on top of it."

"What about…"

"Rachel will get over it. She's going to have to learn to deal with situations she doesn't like in a way that doesn't involve either walking away from them or pushing them away. She has to learn to live with it."

Quinn nodded. "Okay."

"You can wax the kitchen floor as punishment for the insult," Jim said.

Quinn nodded again. "I'll do that tomorrow."

The two men each kissed Quinn on the top of the head and wished her goodnight before leaving her room. Quinn dropped down to her mattress and pulled a pillow close to her chest and cried.

……………

Jim and Chuck reset up the bed in Quinn's room so she wouldn't have to sleep on the mattress on the floor anymore. Rachel was rarely seen except when her dads demanded she come downstairs for breakfast and dinner. Quinn had no idea what the brunette could quite possibly do in her room all day since she had hardly anything in there that could provide entertainment.

New Year's Eve, Quinn was stretched out in bed with Elizabeth next to her, fast asleep and cuddling her "Rachel blanky". Quinn watched the ball drop on TV and shut it off. She snuggled down next to her daughter and ran her fingers through her fine blonde hair. After pressing a kiss to the young girl's temple she shut off the lamp and shut her eyes. She was almost asleep when her phone startled her awake. She flipped it open and furrowed her eyebrows at Santana's number.

"Hey, S, Happy New…"

"Get your ass over here now," Santana demanded.

"Santana, it's the middle of the night. I'm not leaving for some stupid party that's going to be over with in an hour anyways."

"I don't care whether you come for the party, get your ass over here and get Berry."

"That's impossible," Quinn laughed quietly. "Rachel's in her room where she's been since Christmas."

"No, Streisand is locked in Puck's bathroom."

"Are you sure it's her?"

"I know what she looks like, Q!"

"Is she drunk?"

"Just get here!"

Quinn sighed and hung up the phone. She picked up Elizabeth and walked to Rachel's bedroom door. She knocked a few times before finally opening it and sure enough, the room was empty. Rachel's window was open. How Rachel got out of the second story window without killing herself, the blonde had no idea. There was no way Quinn could leave without Jim and Chuck knowing that Rachel was gone so she did what she had to and took Elizabeth downstairs.

"Rachel's gone," Quinn sighed. "I'm not entirely sure how she did it but she snuck out and went to Puck's party. Santana just called me to go get her."

Chuck turned red. "Go," he growled.

Santana met Quinn in the driveway and pulled her inside without saying a word. Brittany met them at the front door and they pulled Quinn upstairs to Puck's bathroom door.

"Get her out of there, will you?" Santana barked. "She's been in there for two hours and Puck's too drunk to pick the lock."

"You guys really think she'll come out of there for me?" Quinn hissed. "She's the one that broke up with me, remember?"

"I think she will," Brittany said. "She loves you."

"She doesn't love me, B. She's been messing around with Puck and God knows who else."

"Sex isn't dating," Brittany said with a shrug. "Besides, she told me that she loved you."

"When did she tell you that?"

"Right before she locked herself in there."

"How much has she had to drink?"

"Nothing," Santana said. "She brought her own water bottles, the dork. She came downstairs with Puck and then we were talking and someone asked her about you and she started word vomiting about how much of a bitch she is and then she locked herself in there. Now it's up to you to get her ass out of there. There's only one other bathroom in this house and I am not standing in that line behind any of the football players."

Quinn sighed. "Rachel!" she called out and knocked on the door. "Rachel, it's Quinn. Get out of that bathroom, _now._"

"Go away!"

"Stop being such a diva!" Quinn glanced at Brittany and an evil smile slipped across her face. "You're going to make Brittany cry! She thinks you're mad at her!"

"I don't think…"

Santana clamped her hand over Brittany's mouth and shook her head. The bathroom door flung open and Rachel's reddened eyes fell on Brittany.

"Good, now that you've opened the door, I'm taking you home."

Rachel attempted to slam the door shut again but Quinn held onto it. Santana reached through the door and dragged Rachel out.

"Now," Santana said to Rachel who was staring at the carpet and Quinn who was looking at Brittany, "For the love of glee club would you two please go home and fucking make up? I'm sick of you crying every goddamn day blubbering about how much you love her," she poked Quinn in the chest, "and you!" she smacked Rachel in the arm. "I'm sick of you pretending like you're all fine and fucking dandy when I've caught you bawling your eyes out at school in the second floor bathroom more times than I care to count," she said. "Not to mention you seriously need to eat a cheeseburger or _something_. Eating disorder does not look good on you."

"I don't have an eating disorder!"

"And you love Quinn," Brittany cut in. "But you feel bad for telling her you'd be better off without her because you were lying. But she knew that already, she told me so."

Quinn groaned and dropped her head onto Brittany's shoulder. "B, you suck at keeping secrets."

"Hey, back off!" Santana growled. "She's just trying to help." Santana wrapped an arm around Brittany's waist and pulled her in close. "It's okay, B. Quinn's just pissy because she hasn't gotten any in a while. You know, like how I get when we haven't done it in a while."

Brittany smiled and jumped a little. "You should go do that, then!" the blonde squealed. "Hey…" she turned to Santana. "We should go back to my house."

Santana nodded and Brittany started pulling her to the stairs. "If you don't make up, she really will cry," the Latina said over her shoulder as she was being dragged away.

"Come on," Quinn mumbled as she headed for the stairs.

"What were you thinking, Rachel?" Quinn shrieked when they got to the car. "And how did you get out of a second story window?"

Rachel kept her arms crossed over her chest. "I figured out how to climb the tree."

"Are you seriously insane, Rachel? You could've been killed!"

"I wasn't."

Quinn gripped the steering wheel tight, fighting off the urge to reach over and smack some sense into the brunette. The rest of the ride was silent.


	21. Chapter 20

**-Chapter 20-**

When they pulled up to the house Rachel got out before Quinn could say anything. By the time the blonde got to the living room Rachel had disappeared, leaving Jim and Chuck both standing and looking more angry than Quinn had ever seen them.

"She didn't drink," Quinn said. "She just locked herself in the bathroom for a while and Santana got mad. Can I please talk to her first?"

"Let her know she can expect to be punished very, _very_ severely," Chuck said.

Quinn nodded and ascended the stairs slowly, trying to gather her thoughts. By the time she reached Rachel's door she was still trying to figure out exactly what she was going to say. She contemplated just leaving it alone but she knew that it would be another sleepless night if she attempted it so she knocked quietly. As expected, there was no response. Quinn opened the door to find it dark save for the light coming in from the window but that was blocked by Rachel standing there, looking out at the back yard.

"Guess this means you're sorry," Quinn sang quietly.

Rachel whipped around and Quinn could feel the brunette's stare on her. "You're standin' at my door," came the response.

"Guess this means you take back all you said before. Like how much you wanted anyone but me."

"Said you'd never come back, but here you are again."

Quinn sighed and crossed the floor. "We need to talk."

Rachel nodded. "I'm fairly certain that I have _a lot_ of begging to do."

"Yeah, you do."

Quinn turned on the light that rested on Rachel's bedside table and sat at the head at the bed, Rachel crawled up and sat at the opposite end and folded her hands in her lap. "How did it feel when you found out you were pregnant, Quinn?"

"Uh…"

"I just…I want to know how it felt."

"Rachel, are you…"

"No! No, no, no! It's…I see you with Elizabeth and I see what a good mother you are but I know that before you got pregnant you knew what you wanted. You would go through high school being the head cheerleader on Finn's arm and then you'd go to college and get married and live this cookie cutter life out of a magazine."

"Except it was you that I wanted. I probably would've broken down sooner or later and admitted that I wanted you, baby or no baby."

"The point I'm trying to make is that a lot of things happened to you that made you change what you thought you wanted."

Quinn nodded. "It was scary. Really, really scary. Everything. Finding out I was pregnant, admitting to you how I really felt. It all just…it wasn't part of the plan and the plan was what I was comfortable with."

"Then you'll understand when I tell you that you weren't part of my plan. Elizabeth wasn't part of it. Falling in love with the ex-head cheerleader turned glee club member with a daughter who had fallen from the top of the social pyramid was _not_ part of my plan, Quinn. Helping her raise her child, not in the plan. The plan was to get through high school, go to Julliard, get on Broadway, live happily ever after. That was my plan, Quinn. Then you called me from Finn's house."

"And I ruined everything?"

"You didn't ruin anything. You just…you changed the plan and I didn't realize it until I started filling out my application for Julliard. That's why I had somewhat of an emotional breakdown. I had this dream one night that you and I were older and I came home to a nice house and you met me at the door with a kiss and so did Elizabeth and I looked around and there were no Tonys or Grammys or _anything_ and you asked me how work was and I started telling you about the students I was teaching and I realized that we were in Lima and I was teaching at McKinley and I'd never made it to New York…and I was happy."

"It's just a dream, Rach. We both know you're going to New York."

"I know but…it made me realize that maybe I'd be happy if that's how things were. And it scared me. All I've ever known that I wanted was being a star and it really, honestly scared me when I realized that maybe that's not the most important thing in life."

"You'll be a star, Rachel. You will."

Rachel nodded. "I'm so sorry, Quinn. I know things can't go back to the way they were right now but…could they? Ever?"

Quinn honestly had to stop and think before giving a response. "I'll make you a deal."

Rachel nodded again. "Anything."

"Apologize to Mr. Schuester and come back to glee club. If he doesn't want you in the lead then accept it and do your best in whatever part you get. Trust me, this may be your only chance at socialization for a long time."

"Okay. Again…I'm so sorry."

"I'm sorry, too. For what I said, you know I didn't mean it."

"Did I hurt you when I…you know, tackled you?"

"My back hurt for a few days."

Tears formed in Rachel's eyes and her gaze dropped to her lap. "I'm so sorry Quinn…you know I would never…I…I would never…I was just angry and that's no excuse, no excuse at all. I was also hurt at what you said and again that's no excuse for my behavior. I should never have even _thought_ about…"

"I know, Rachel."

"I promise you it will never happen again. Never again, okay? I'll do anything you want to make it up to you. Anything you want. I love you, I really love you and whatever I have to do to prove it to you, I will. Just tell me." Rachel was shaking and Quinn reached forward to brush away her tears.

"It'll be okay."

Rachel nodded and sniffled. "I fully understand if you don't want to attempt to rekindle our relationship due to my behavior but I would like it very much if you thought about it. And if my affair with Noah during our hiatus is any influence on your decision…I…it didn't mean anything."

"It would be kind of hypocritical of me to not date you just because you slept with Puck."

Rachel was quiet.

"Can I have a little time to think about it?"

"Of course, definitely. I didn't expect you to answer immediately."

"It's late," Quinn said. "I should go to bed."

Rachel nodded. "Whenever you want to talk…I'll be here."

Quinn left Rachel's room and quickly made her way to her own. She collapsed on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. It was hard leaving Rachel's room but it was what she had to do. Part of her really, really wanted to just stay there and snuggle up to Rachel and tell her she loved her and everything would be just fine and they could immediately go back to being best friends and lovers…but she couldn't. Aside from still being slightly upset over the events of Christmas Day, hearing that Rachel would gladly give up Julliard to be with Quinn left the blonde feeling conflicted. There was a time when she would beg Rachel to stay but she knew that Rachel would eventually resent her if she ever did that. Quinn ultimately decided that yes, she would give Rachel another chance but not right away. The relationship was shaky at best and Quinn needed to prove to the both of them that if Rachel went to New York that they could survive.

Rachel was grounded for two months and told that her behavior had to be absolutely perfect if she wanted to go to the live auditions to Julliard assuming she was given the chance. Since Rachel wasn't allowed near anything remotely entertaining Quinn picked out a few of her favorite books and they would sit together on the couch and take turns reading. Usually their fingers ended up laced in the space between them.

Rachel came to the first glee practice when school started again and issued a formal apology not only to Mr. Schuester but to the entire club as well and a vote was held as to whether or not to allow her to come back. It was a unanimous yes, as long as Rachel promised to keep her diva-fits to once a week. Brittany squealed when Rachel took Quinn's hand while they looked through their new sheet music for regionals. Quinn saw Rachel's shoulders drop slightly when she was handed the alto part and Mercedes was given the lead for the number.

"You promised," the blonde whispered. Rachel nodded. She belted out the harmonies and the chorus with everyone else and watched Mercedes take the lead with Finn. Everyone watched Rachel carefully after the number ended, expecting her to yell about how much better she could've done it. Instead she smiled and told Mercedes how great she was. Quinn heard the quiver of jealousy in Rachel's voice but she couldn't have been more proud in that moment.

Rachel's appearance improved drastically when she re-joined glee club. The dark circles disappeared and her figure returned, which Quinn loved. She no longer felt like she would break the singer just by hugging her.

It was the end of January when Rachel came bouncing into Quinn's room holding an envelope and squealing. She pulled Quinn into a hug and the pair fell back onto Quinn's bed with Rachel still squealing excitedly.

"I play!" Elizabeth squealed from the floor.

Elizabeth hopped up off the floor and ran to the two girls and climbed on top of Rachel. She hugged the brunette tight around the neck and Quinn slipped out from under her and pulled the young girl away. Rachel sat up and Elizabeth immediately wriggled out of Quinn's arms and into Rachel's.

"I'm going to guess that something exciting happened?" Quinn said with a smile.

"I got a letter from Julliard."

"And?"

"I haven't opened it yet."

"You are excited over a letter you haven't opened?"

"I wanted to be with you when I did it."

Rachel slowly peeled open the envelope and pulled out the papers inside. She opened up the letter and began reading. Her eyes widened and Quinn's heart leapt when Rachel thrust the letter at her and her eyes scanned over the words that Rachel had been dying to hear since the day she sent in her audition CD.

"You got a live audition!" Quinn squealed

Rachel stood and lifted Elizabeth with her. She twirled around with the girl in her arms and Quinn jumped up to hug the brunette, pinning her daughter in between them.

"You're on your way," Quinn said, resting her forehead on Rachel's. "You're one step closer to your dream."

Rachel nodded and Elizabeth kissed the brunette's cheek. Quinn leaned in and gently brushed her lips against Rachel's and she couldn't help but smile when she felt Rachel's lips curl upwards.


	22. Chapter 21

**-Chapter 21-**

Rachel had been saving every single penny she could since she was five years old and first heard the word "Julliard" and found out what it was. Therefore, the agreement that she would pay for half of the trip was no problem. Missing school would be the only hurdle she would have to endure when she found the date for her audition. Jim and Chuck actually laughed when Rachel said she could tackle New York City all on her own and Quinn almost fainted. It was decided that Jim would go with her, they would leave the day before the audition so they could look around the city a little bit and Rachel could get plenty of rest.

The slight progress Quinn and Rachel had made in their relationship was almost shattered when Rachel slowly started slipping back into diva-mode with learning her audition pieces. Quinn woke up at three in the morning to hear Rachel practicing scales all the way from the basement and she rolled off of her bed and met Chuck in the hallway on the way downstairs.

"Rachel!" Quinn hissed when she got to the bottom of the basement stairs. "I have a twenty-two month old trying to sleep! And Chuck and I open the store early in the morning!"

"Julliard doesn't…"

"Rachel, your father and I still have the power to revoke this trip."

"And I have the power to stop speaking to you," Quinn said with a yawn. "Go to bed or I'm duct taping your mouth shut."

"But if I don't…"

"Rachel!" Chuck and Quinn growled simultaneously.

"Go to bed, Chuck. I'll talk some sense into her."

Chuck grumbled and Quinn slipped her hand into Rachel's and pulled her up the stairs.

"Are we really going to do this again, Rachel?" Quinn said, on the way up the second flight.

"My audition is in twenty nine days!"

"Exactly. You have plenty of time." Quinn stopped in front of Rachel's door. "Go to sleep."

Quinn turned to go to her own room but Rachel caught her hip. "Stay with me?"

"Rachel…"

"Just cuddling, I promise."

Quinn sighed and turned back around. "Okay," she said with a nod.

Rachel made Quinn swear not to plan anything for Valentine's Day since the blonde had done it the year before. Quinn was just glad to have Rachel taking a day off from rehearsing for her audition so she didn't care what was going to happen. Rachel's dads had gone away for the weekend and Elizabeth was with Puck again. Quinn came home from closing the furniture store the Saturday before Valentine's Day. The blonde kicked her shoes off and tossed her jacket on the couch. The house was almost completely dark and before she had time to call out to Rachel her eyes were covered from behind.

"Don't move," she heard Rachel whisper from behind her. Quinn nodded. "Close your eyes." Quinn nodded again and closed her eyes. She felt a blindfold tie around her head and Rachel was pulling her up the stairs. She smelled the familiar aroma of Rachel's room and simply stood in the middle of the floor as Rachel started tugging at Quinn's shirt.

"Rachel…I don't know about this…"

"Relax. No sex."

"Then why exactly are you – ow! Trim your fingernails – stripping my clothes off of me right now?"

"Because I have something I want you to try on."

"And where did you buy it?"

"Just relax, okay?"

Quinn took a deep breath and felt absolutely absurd standing in the middle of Rachel's bedroom wearing nothing but a blindfold until Rachel began redressing her. Quinn stepped into the bottom half of what she knew was a bikini by the feel of the material and Rachel tied on the top half.

"Rachel, I'm not entirely sure if you're aware of this or not but it's February. And it snowed yesterday. And you…"

"Quinn?"

"What?"

"While I've loved the majority of the time you've spent living here very, very much, you seem to have picked up my knack for talking too much. I would greatly appreciate it if you would cease talking before I have to gag you."

Quinn's mouth snapped shut and Rachel instructed her to lift one foot and then the other as she slipped sandals on the blonde's feet. Rachel helped her into her bathrobe and then led Quinn back down the stairs and through the kitchen. Quinn shivered when Rachel opened the back door and she stayed firmly planted in the kitchen when the brunette tugged at her arm.

"You're insane, Rachel. Do you know what the temperature board at the bank said when I drove home? Three degrees. I vote for the fireplace and…"

"Oh for the love of Barbra would you just trust me?"

"You're taking me outside in the snow to frolic in a bikini, sorry if I'm not so keen on that!"

Rachel growled and Quinn's eyes momentarily hurt when the blindfold was ripped off of her taking a few strands of hair with it. When her eyes adjusted she noticed a new addition to the Berry's patio. A hot tub. Surrounded by lit candles. And Rachel prancing over to a CD player and turning on slow music.

"You suck at letting me surprise you."

"How…did you manage to get a hot tub here without me noticing? And your dads!"

"You're welcome for the surprise. It _does_ look rather nice, thank you. Oh yes, the candles _are_ a romantic touch, aren't they? The music? Just some things I downloaded." Rachel's voice was dripping with sarcasm and Quinn sighed.

"Thank you for the surprise Rachel. It really does look very nice and the candles are amazing and so is the music but how?"

Rachel growled again. "It's been here and set up for three days, Ms. Oblivious. Dad and Daddy have been looking at one for a few weeks now and I made them promise not to tell you because I wanted it to be a surprise if it was here for Valentine's Day."

Rachel pulled off her bathrobe and Quinn licked her lips at the sight of her girlfriend in the black bikini. She watched as Rachel slowly tested the water and smiled before stepping over the edge and into the bubbling, steamy water. Quinn quickly checked to make sure the kitchen door was unlocked and then stepped outside, closing the door behind her. She dropped her bathrobe and discarded her sandals and quickly jumped into the hot water and settled herself next to Rachel. She looked down to find her bikini matched Rachel's in style but was red.

"This feels amazing," Quinn said. She laced her fingers with Rachel's and smiled at the brunette. "And you're amazing."

Rachel finally smiled and traced the fingers of her unoccupied hand on Quinn's jaw and pulled her in for a kiss. "You have no idea how hard it has been to hide this from you," Rachel said when she pulled away.

"Why?"

"Well every time you wanted to take Elizabeth out to play in the snow after school I panicked thinking you'd want to go to the back yard."

"I wondered why you kept dragging us to the front."

Rachel was quiet and Quinn saw the look on her face that said the brunette was contemplating something Rachel considered deeply important.

"You're going to give yourself a headache if you keep thinking so hard."

"Well I don't want to just blurt something like this out. I'd like for it to sound romantic."

"Since when do you not blurt things out?"

"Come to New York with me."

"Rachel…"

"If I go to New York I want you to come with me, you and Elizabeth."

"Rachel…I can't. You know I can't. I can't take Lizzy away from Puck like that. And if Finn stays here there's no way I'll be able to…I just can't, Rachel."

"But I…I can't do it without you."

"Yes you can. You've been hell bent on going to the city since before you could walk, you'll do fine."

"Okay, I could do it…but I don't want to. I want you with me."

"Don't make this harder than it's going to be, Rach."

Rachel sighed and pulled herself closer to Quinn and rested her head on the blonde's shoulder.

"I love you, Quinn."

"I love you too."

Rachel was silent again and only rumble of the water jets in the hot tub and the soft music filled the air.

"What are you thinking about?" Rachel asked, lifting her head. "Your shoulders got really tense."

"I'm thinking that if it'll make you feel better I'll move back into your room," Quinn said with a smile. She turned her head and was met with a bright smile from Rachel and another kiss. "Your dads aren't going to be happy about having to move the bed back downstairs."

"I think as long as we're not yelling at each other then they'll be fine with whatever we do."

Quinn smiled again and Rachel kissed the blonde girl's neck.

Rachel cooked dinner, breaded chicken parmesan and pasta, and Quinn was genuinely impressed. The brunette had come a long way from demanding canned cranberry sauce. They fell asleep on the couch watching _Moulin Rouge_ and woke up to Rachel's dads coming home early the next morning. It took quite a bit of convincing but they did agree to let Quinn move back into Rachel's room and threatened that next time the girls had a spat that they would either work it out or be the ones to drag the bed back upstairs. Quinn shocked even herself when she told Rachel no sex and despite the disappointed look on Rachel's face, she agreed and snuggled into Quinn's front each night after a chaste kiss goodnight.

……………

The second week of March was the Julliard audition. Rachel's was on a Monday morning so she and Jim flew out Sunday afternoon and Elizabeth cried and Rachel swore that she remembered when they went to nationals the previous year and the girl would be permanently scarred for life when it came to airports.

The bed felt lonely to Quinn not because there was a lot of unoccupied space, she was used to that, but because even with her eyes closed her subconscious knew that it was _their_ bed. She tried pillows and stuffed animals but nothing worked and Wednesday couldn't come quick enough for her. She kept her phone on in school on Monday and ran out of chemistry class when it started vibrating in her pocket.

"Hi!"

"You're supposed to be in chem, I was just going to leave you a voicemail!"

"I knew you were going to call though and I wanted to talk to you."

"If you didn't already have a hundred and three percent in that class I'd be angry but since you do then I suppose I can let it slide."

"How'd it go?"

"I felt really good! Definitely my best performances to date. They wouldn't allow Daddy to record it though."

"I'm so proud of you, Rachel. How do you like the city?"

"It's so beautiful! Even with all of the smog it's still fantastic. We're headed to Times Square right now, actually. I saw it last night, like I told you, but this will be the first time I'll see it in the daytime. I've taken tons of pictures and I'm recording everything I can so that you and Elizabeth and Dad can see. I miss you though, I miss you so much and I wish you could've come with me."

"I wish I could've, too. But I'll come with you this summer when we get you moved in," Quinn said, attempting to sound optimistic. "So take good notes of places where we have to get our picture taken together."

"I already have a list! And I splurged a bit and got you guys a few touristy things. Oh my gosh there it is! Daddy, look! It looks so beautiful at night but it looks amazing in the day, too! I can't wait for you to see this, Quinn!"

"I can't wait either, Rach." Quinn smiled but it was shattered when the bell rang. "The bell just rang. I've got about five seconds before I'm stampeded."

"Oh okay. Call me later, okay?"

"I promise, I will. Love you."

"Love you too!"

Quinn heard Rachel laughing and gasping at something else she saw when she hung up the phone and the blonde smiled before she was shoved into the wall by the herd of students. She made no apologies when she went back to the chemistry classroom to get her books. Actually she lied and told the teacher it was the babysitter and because she was Quinn Fabray, she got away with it.

When Quinn got home the next afternoon she was very glad that she hadn't picked up Elizabeth yet because when she opened the door she was tackled onto the couch by Rachel and before she could yell her lips were occupied and a tongue was probing her mouth. Her hands roamed to Rachel's backside and stayed there. Rachel's hips connected with Quinn's and her lips strayed from lips to jaw to neck to collarbone and Quinn gasped when lips turned to teeth and Rachel started marking her territory.

"I missed you," Rachel murmured into Quinn's neck when she finally settled down.

"Uh-huh…"

"What do you say we go upstairs?"

Quinn groaned. "I can't, baby. I just came home to drop off my stuff before I go to get Elizabeth. You have to come with me though, she's missed you."

"Okay," Rachel said with a nod.

"Tonight though," Quinn said with a smile. "I promise."

Quinn and Rachel lay awake that night, well passed when they should've been asleep. Rachel's fingers traced up and down Quinn's C-section scar as she talked about the different things she saw and touring the Julliard campus and how she felt privileged to be in New York for even a few days because she knew that the same places she stood to have her picture taken are where great performers once stood to have theirs taken, too, she was sure. Quinn ran her fingers through Rachel's hair and kept her other arm wrapped tight around the brunette's bare shoulders.

"It sounds like you're going to have a fantastic time there, Rachel."

Rachel's fingers stopped moving and she looked up at the blonde. "Tell me to stay here."

"What?"

"Tell me you want me to stay."

"Don't do this to me, Rachel. You're going to New York, you have to."

"I don't have to do anything."

"Rachel, please," Quinn choked. She rolled over and held her girlfriend tight to her front. "If you don't go you'll regret it. Even if you only stay a year or two…you'll regret it. You have to go. Promise me right now that you will go."

Rachel sighed. "I promise."


	23. Chapter 22

**-Chapter 22-**

The rest of March came and went and things were going smoothly. By the middle of April, Rachel was checking the mailbox the minute they got home from picking Elizabeth up from the babysitter. Every day was the same result and Rachel started walking more slowly.

Quinn hoisted Elizabeth up out of her car seat while Rachel checked the mailbox. The blonde almost dropped the toddler when Rachel let out a shriek.

"Juilliard!" Rachel yelled. "I got a letter!"

"What's it say?"

"I don't know!" Rachel ran back up the driveway. "I want to wait until Dad and Daddy get home."

"I will bet you diaper duty for a week that you don't make it until they get here."

"You're on!"

Quinn and Rachel sat on their bed while Elizabeth kept herself occupied on the bedroom floor with her toy piano. Quinn was scribbling on her chemistry homework, glancing up at Rachel every now and then. More often than not the brunette would be staring at the envelope with the Juilliard seal stamped in the corner.

"You know you want to open it."

"It…no…no I don't!"

"Sure you do. It's screaming at you to open it."

"I think you want to know just as much as I do."

"Either way, you're going to New York."

"Maybe."

"Come on, Rachel. You only applied to OSU to use as a last resort. You got accepted to NYU already, you're going to New York."

"OSU has a good arts program."

"But they don't have Broadway auditions."

"Columbus is closer than New York."

Quinn growled. "Rachel…I swear to whatever God you believe in that if you don't…"

"It's my decision, Quinn."

"You promised me, Rachel"

"What about you?"

Quinn shrugged. "What about me?"

"What about _us_?" Rachel whispered.

"Whatever's meant to be will work out perfectly," Quinn sang softly.

"Did you seriously just sing an answer to me?"

"It's an annoying habit I picked up from this girl I know." Quinn smirked.

Rachel picked up the envelope and traced over her name with her fingertips.

"My other envelopes were thicker," Rachel sighed.

"If I say the bet is off will you open it?"

Rachel nodded. She flipped the envelope over and carefully opened the sealed flap. She pulled the paper that was contained within it out of the envelope and stared at the tri-folded sheet. Quinn rested her hand on Rachel's tanned knee and the brunette gave a small smile before opening the paper. Quinn watched as Rachel's eyes darted back and forth across the paper. When she reached the end Rachel simply folded the paper back up and returned it to the envelope. Her expression was unreadable; she only picked up her pencil and went back to her Spanish homework.

"Rachel?"

"Hm?"

"Sweetie is there something you'd like to share?"

Rachel shook her head and Quinn's heart broke when she saw a tear drop from Rachel's eye onto the textbook. Quinn pulled the brunette in close and Rachel cried on her shoulder.

"I…I shouldn't have…even…auditioned! That whole trip was a waste!"

"You can re-apply next year, you know?"

"Why? So I can get shot down again?"

"You can go to NYU for a year, get acclimated to the city, maybe do some auditioning and just get your name out there and then try again."

"Columbus is…"

"Rachel, don't sacrifice your future."

"What if I don't _have_ a future, Quinn?!"

Elizabeth looked up from her piano, startled by Rachel yelling. "Uh-oh! Trouble!" the almost two year old squealed. The toddler got up from the floor and pulled herself up onto the bed and settled into Rachel's arms.

Rachel sighed and Quinn kissed the top of the brunette's head. "What if you're my future, Quinn? What if…what if all of this happened because Elizabeth is supposed to be the one with her name in lights and I'm supposed to be in the crowd, with you, watching? Maybe you and me…the whole thing is just a way of forcing me out of the spotlight? Making me realize that there are more important things in life than my name on some trophy or marquee? What if..."

"I thought you didn't like focusing on the 'what ifs' of life?" Quinn smirked, recalling the conversation that seemed like an entire lifetime ago when she was harboring secrets and Rachel wouldn't even come close to entertaining the idea of a relationship with her.

"Things change." Rachel stroked the fine blonde hair of the young girl in her lap.

"Rachel, listen to me, New York City is your dream. Go to NYU for a year, okay? If you hate it then come back, Lizzy and I will wait for you. You promised me and I refuse to let you break it."

"And if I land the starring role in a Broadway show?"

"Then you had better make sure I get tickets."

"Even if it's _Les Mis_?"

"I don't care if you're on stage for three and a half seconds; I better get tickets to see my girl live her dream."

Rachel sighed and Elizabeth reached up and kissed her cheek. "Rachel no more sad."

"Okay," Rachel whispered. "No more sad. Can my other cheek have a kiss, too?"

Elizabeth smiled and obliged, kissing the brunette's other cheek then wrapping her arms around Rachel's neck.

"All better!"

Rachel nodded. "All better, my little gold star."

"Gold star!"

Quinn leaned in and kissed Rachel and Elizabeth giggled.

Rachel was hesitant to go to school the next day, knowing she'd have to tell everyone exactly why she was depressed. It seemed as though almost all of the glee kids had gotten their acceptance letters over the weekend.

"Britt and I are already looking for apartments in Chicago," Santana said. "She got her acceptance letter to Columbia College's dance program Saturday." Santana smiled and gave Brittany a playful peck on the cheek. "It'll be a bitch to find a decent place in between there and Northwestern but we'll deal. I can't wait to just get my medical license and start making tons of money."

"Me and Matt got football and arts scholarships to OSU. We'll totally get you guys t-shirts," Mike said. Everyone high fived.

Artie smiled and played with the letter in his hand. "Missouri University of Science and Technology!" he said proudly. "Mechanical engineering with emphasis in robotics. I'm thinking I could offer myself up as an experiment to invent robotic legs!"

"Missouri? Seriously? That's worse than Ohio," Santana said. "There was like…nothing there when we went for nationals. Except cows. I remember lots of cows."

"The town is quite nice from what I've looked at," Artie said. "Not a bad music department, either. But it's one of the best engineering schools there is. Students come from all over the world for their programs. I could even take classes in explosives."

"Whatever," the Latina said. "What about you Mercedes?"

"Got my Purdue letter Friday night! They've got a great vet school. What about you, Tina?"

"University of Cincinnati. Architecture! Rachel?"

"I…I'll be in New York."

"Well duh, Berry," Santana groaned. "But _where_?"

Rachel sighed and Quinn took her hand. "Rachel will be at NYU. They have an excellent theater department."

There was a collective nod when they saw the look on both Rachel and Quinn's faces that said no one was to even mention Julliard.

"Well it looks like Rachel and I will at least have someone to hang out with," Kurt said. "I got my letter from the Art Institute in New York City. Fashion design, as if you all didn't know that. Perhaps I can help with your wardrobe, Rachel, since Quinn obviously hasn't bothered to raid your closet and burn the sweaters I asked her to."

"Yeah well as it turns out I have a kink for argyle and plaid skirts," Quinn said with a smile. "I did get rid of the pant suits though."

"I thought you said there was an accident at the dry cleaners!"

"Yes, an accident as in 'I donated them to Goodwill'."

"You're sleeping on the couch tonight."

"I love you, too."

"Ugh, even B and I aren't that sickening," Santana said. "Could you two tone it down?"

Finn walked into the choir room and tossed his bag down before leaning against the piano.

"Hey Finn," Kurt said sweetly. Rachel shook her head and rolled her eyes. "We're talking about college letters. What about you?"

"I…I enlisted," Finn said quietly. "I leave for army basic in Kentucky right before graduation."

"What?!" Quinn shrieked. "You enlisted and you didn't tell anyone? And you're going to miss graduation? Finn!"

Puck looked at Finn and his mouth gaped open.

"Finn…" Rachel gasped. "You…I thought you said you would try to go to college."

Finn shrugged. "I'll still get my diploma, I just won't be there for commencement. It's what I want to do. My mom isn't too happy about it but I think she gets it. My dad was my hero and I want to be like him."

Quinn jumped up out of her seat and hugged him. "He'd be so proud of you," she whispered. "But I swear that if you get hurt I will be so mad at you."

The room was silent until Mr. Schuester came in and rubbed his forehead.

"What's wrong Mr. Schuester?" Rachel asked. "You only rub your forehead when something has gone wrong."

"Our funding for getting to nationals has been cut because the school board feels…"

"You mean Sue Sylvester feels," Quinn cut in.

"Probably. Anyways, we need fundraiser ideas. Fast. We're looking at needing about a thousand dollars if we want to get there this year."

"Do we have anything left in the wardrobe fund?" Rachel asked. She pulled out a notebook from her backpack and flipped to a chart containing various numbers. "According to my calculations there's about two hundred in there."

"The thousand dollars is if we empty out wardrobe, music, and emergency funds. Ms. Pillsbury has agreed to pay for her own trip and do the chaperoning for free and so has Ms. Wilson, the drama teacher, but none of the other chaperones will do it. We need another male chaperone to meet the minimum requirements."

"I'll ask my dads," Rachel said.

"What about Lizzy? I don't want only one of them to have to take care of her."

"She could come with us."

Quinn smiled. "Could she, Mr. Schue?"

"As long as both of them come because one won't be considered a chaperone because he'll have to be in charge of the baby since you technically can't be."

Quinn nodded and beamed. "This will be so much fun! We're still going to the amusement park, right?"

"Yeah, the bus I found we get for a flat rate so we'll have them the entire time we're there and we can go anywhere. We just have to let the show choir board know how many tickets we need for the amusement park, they're giving them to the participants for free this year. The problem now is getting this thousand dollars."

"What about another bake sale?" Puck said with a mischievous smile.

"No, Puck," Quinn scowled. "You're lucky we didn't get sued and kicked out of school for good."

"What about a CD?" Finn said. "The AV club has all that sound stuff, right? We could record all of our favorite songs. I've heard tons of people who saw us at sectionals and regionals say it'd be awesome if we did that."

"Vocal Adrenaline releases a CD every year," Rachel added. "They were selling them at regionals last year and it looked like they were doing really good. What if we do that and then have another invitational and sell them there and around town? Between selling tickets for the invitational and the CDs we could do it."

"We have less than a month and a half to do it, guys. It's going to be hard but I think we might be able to pull it off. We have to come up with a song list though, make sure it's even from all three years."

"We have to do 'Don't Stop Believin'," Finn said. "That's my favorite." He smiled wide and Mr. Schuester nodded.

After practice Rachel and Quinn were on their way to the parking lot when they heard a crash in the hallway followed by two male voices yelling. They ran to find the source to see Finn and Puck in the middle of the hallway and heard the crash again when Puck punched the wall of lockers.

"What the hell, man?!" Puck yelled. "I told you, I fucking _told you_ that I'd give you a job! I told you I would split everything with you, right down the middle."

"I know, dude. I know. And I appreciate it but I want to do this."

"Is this about money? My business does awesome in the summer, you know that. And if we do like we talked about and learn shit about home repairs we could work in winter, too. Why the hell are you doing this?"

"Noah…"

Puck and Finn turned to look at Rachel and Quinn. Quinn let go of Rachel's hand and pulled Puck away.

"No," Puck growled. He pulled away from Quinn and stormed out.

"I probably should have told him earlier," Finn said with a shrug. "I thought he'd get it though, wanting to do something to be proud of."

"Give him time," Rachel said.

The next day the glee club moved the sound equipment into the choir room and started recording. By the end of the week the AV club had a hundred copies of the CD ready to go and the invitational was scheduled for the next weekend. Chuck let them start playing the CD in the furniture store and selling them there, Mercedes' dad did the same at his dentist office as did Kurt's dad at his garage.


	24. Chapter 23

**-Chapter 23-**

Puck and Finn started speaking again before the invitational after they had it out in the parking lot after school and Puck ended up with a black eye and Finn with a split lip. Quinn only groaned and muttered about immature boys and kissed her girlfriend. Rehearsals for the invitational were brutal but they got it together in time and by the time the night came everything was perfect.

Quinn found Rachel pacing the hallway just outside the choir room door right before the invitational was to begin.

"Hey Rach, we've got to start warming up."

"There's a full house."

"I know. Elizabeth is out there with your dads, I saw them. Third row up, dead center."

"That doesn't help me."

"Are you seriously telling me that Rachel Berry has stage fright?" Quinn's jaw actually dropped at the thought.

"Quinn…this is the last time we'll be performing on this stage. The next time we perform will be in Branson, then…then that will be it. It'll be all over. New Directions will be in the hands of the underclassmen."

"And you'll be on stage at NYU doing amazing things, Rachel."

"Do you think she'll remember this?"

"Huh?"

"Elizabeth, do you think she'll remember this? Watching us perform."

Quinn walked behind Rachel and wrapped her arms around the shorter girl's waist and settled her head on Rachel's shoulder.

"Jim is recording it so she'll see it someday," Quinn whispered. "And I'm sure in about thirteen years she'll be in high school and loving glee club. And she'll be nervous about her first solo but she'll blow it out of the water and we'll be in the audience with her glee aunts and uncles watching her eyes sparkle, just like yours, after she finishes."

"And she'll smile, just like you."

"And she'll be tackled by twelve former glee clubbers when she gets off stage. Puck will pretend like it's no big deal because he's already done it but inside he'll be proud and Finn will buy her something she doesn't need."

"And I'll have to beat away her boyfriend…"

"Or girlfriend," Quinn interjected.

"…with a stick and threaten them to keep their hands off her."

Quinn spun Rachel around to face her and cupped the girl's face in her hands. "And it will be perfect."

Rachel nodded and stretched up to gently brush her lips against Quinn's. "Perfect," Rachel whispered.

"Are you ready for your final performance on home turf, Ms. Berry?"

"Ready as I'll ever be."

Quinn smiled and pulled Rachel back to the choir room and everyone filed out on stage for the invitational starting of course with "Don't Stop Belivin'". When they went back to the choir room for intermission Mr. Schuester was waiting with a huge smile on his face.

"Great job, guys! I had Ms. Pillsbury go ahead and count up all of the ticket sales from tonight and with all the CDs you sold and the full house we've got more than enough now. I'm going to have the AV club run more copies of the CD because people have been asking for them all night. If we can keep selling them then we'll be in really good shape for next year, too."

The underclass glee kids smiled and clapped. The seniors just nodded. Quinn leaned down and kissed Rachel's cheek.

The pair was met after the invitational by Rachel's dads and Elizabeth who practically leaped out of Chuck's arms to Quinn and then to Rachel.

"What'd you think, Elizabeth? Did Mommy and I do well?"

Elizabeth nodded and squirmed until Rachel let her down and the toddler started dancing. Quinn picked her up and she started shouting "no!" and the older blonde scolded Rachel for teaching her how to properly use the word. Quinn started walking through the choir room and to the stage door before Rachel stopped her.

"What are you doing, Quinn?"

"Come on."

Quinn opened the stage door and walked through the wings and out on the empty stage. The lights were still on and the curtain was open. Quinn put Elizabeth down at center stage and took a few steps back. Rachel was at her side and they watched as the toddler looked around in amazement.

"What's going on?" Puck asked from behind Rachel and Quinn. They both turned around and shushed him and pointed to Elizabeth who was looking out at the audience seats. Puck smiled and disappeared. Rachel looked around for him and saw him come in again with Brittany, Santana, and Finn in tow and they all went out and sat in the audience seats.

"BritBrit!" Elizabeth squealed. Brittany smiled and waved excitedly. "Santy! Daddy! Finn!"

The young girl's squeals must have echoed because soon enough all of the original New Directions was sitting in the audience seats and Elizabeth was dancing and smiling and twirling. Rachel tiptoed over to the toddler and knelt down and pulled the girl in close and whispered. She waved for Quinn to get off the stage and the blonde did, joining her classmates in the auditorium seats. She watched as Rachel stayed knelt down by the toddler and kept talking. Elizabeth smiled.

Rachel backed away a little bit and Quinn had to keep herself from crying with her little girl started belting out "Twinkle, Twinkle" with the energy Rachel had every time she stepped on stage. The words weren't all coherent but her baby could carry a tune better than most adults Quinn knew and it was just _precious_. When Elizabeth finished she got a standing ovation from all of her glee aunts and uncles and Quinn rushed the stage and almost tackled Rachel with a kiss.

"When did you teach her that?"

"We've been working on it since she could talk."

Quinn smiled and kissed Rachel again before running to her daughter who was basking in the attention she was getting from everyone else who had rushed the stage and walked right passed Rachel and Quinn while they shared their moment. Elizabeth squirmed out of Puck's arms and he let her down again so she could stay standing on the stage.

"Just like her Rachel," Quinn said. "Always has to be on the stage."

"And the center of attention," Puck said. He winked at Rachel and she stuck her tongue out at him.

"I'll have you know that I step aside when Elizabeth demands the spotlight."

"Which is most of the time now since she's figured out that she's got all of us wrapped around her little finger." Quinn smiled when Elizabeth reached up for Santana and the Latina hesitantly picked up the toddler.

"Did you know the first time I held you, you puked down my back?" Santana said. "BritBrit thought it was hilarious."

"It just means she loves you," Brittany said. She kissed the toddler's forehead and Elizabeth played with Santana's ponytail.

"I've never puked down your back."

"No but you have puked down my front after you get really drunk."

Santana scowled and Brittany kissed her cheek.

"So this is it," Artie said quietly.

"It is," Mercedes sighed. "That was our last performance together on this stage."

"Not necessarily," Rachel said. "I'm sure that when we're all in town for something we can get together and sing. Maybe for our class reunions or we could guest star if New Directions does performances over winter or summer break."

Everyone's mood seemed to lighten a bit at Rachel's suggestion and they listened as Santana started humming "Sweet Child of Mine" and it slowly turned into softly singing as she rocked the toddler back and forth and everyone joined in. Elizabeth knew they were singing to her because they all crowded around the Latina when they sang and Elizabeth lifted her head from the girl's shoulder and smiled. She reached a hand out and Puck kissed her palm before tiny fingers wrapped around his thumb. Quinn kissed her forehead and held Rachel's hand and the brunette stretched up and kissed away the blonde's tears.

Elizabeth's second birthday was the same as her first, a barbeque at the Berry house. Quinn and Rachel had already given the girl her gift the day before, they took down her crib and replaced it with a white daybed that Quinn had seen at the furniture store and fallen in love with. Rachel also bought a padded guard to put up on the open side and Quinn was glad she had because they'd woken up that morning to Elizabeth snuggled up against it holding onto her first stuffed duck that her BritBrit gave her the day she came home from the hospital and her blanket from her first Hanukkah.

……………

Quinn held Elizabeth on her lap on the plane to Branson with Rachel on one side of her and Jim on the other. The toddler slept most of the way and was fascinated by the hotel. Quinn, Rachel, and Elizabeth got a room to themselves with a king sized bed. Quinn showered the first night there to clear her head. She felt irritable and chalked it up to PMS…and the fact that this was the last time they'd all be performing together and then…then everyone but her and Puck would be leaving Lima.

"You know she's going to want to do that at home now!" Quinn growled when she stepped out of the bathroom to see Rachel on her knees on the king sized bed with Elizabeth holding her hands and jumping on the bed.

"Oh come on, Quinn. She's having fun! Kids are supposed to jump on the bed, it's a natural part of life."

"Yeah, until she falls off and busts her head open."

"She'll be fine. She's going to fall over when she starts gymnastics anyways, she might as well get used to it."

"And when is she starting that?"

"Whenever you sign her up."

"I'm not signing her up for anything until she can tell me she wants to do it. My parents did that to me and I'm not about to do it to her."

"My dads had me in dance class at…"

"I know they did, Rachel." Quinn crossed the room and sat on the bouncing bed. She pulled Elizabeth down and the toddler yelled.

"No! Wanna jump!"

"See what you've done?" Quinn growled. "Baby, you can't jump on the bed."

Elizabeth whined and reached for Rachel. "Rachel!"

Quinn let go and her daughter crawled to Rachel's lap and the brunette cradled her.

"You can't do this, Rachel. She's got to have rules, she can't do whatever she wants or she'll…" Quinn stopped and blinked a few times.

"Quinn, she was just jumping on the bed. Seriously, don't you remember how fun that was when you were a kid and when we did that commercial sophomore year?"

Quinn sighed and fell back to the bed. "I never jumped on the bed at home."

"You…never…what?"

"You know who I just reminded myself of? My father. Once when I was six I got into my mom's makeup and she thought it was funny and she laughed and took pictures and he came home and started yelling about rules and how if I got away with that one thing that I could get away with another and then another and then I would end up like my cousin in prison."

"So you never jumped on the bed at home?"

"No but I did end up pregnant."

"What you ended up with as a beautiful baby girl and an extremely talented girlfriend. Now, get up."

"What?"

Rachel picked up Elizabeth and stood her on the bed then hopped to the floor. "Jump."

"Rachel…"

"Jump with your daughter, Quinn."

"What if…"

"If you don't start jumping I am going to let Noah teach her how to spit."

Quinn sighed and sat up. She got to her knees and carefully stood up and started bouncing a little. Elizabeth looked up and smiled and started jumping, Quinn bounced a little more and a smile spread across her face. She reached down and took her daughter's hands and started jumping higher and Rachel was laughing and Elizabeth was laughing and Quinn grinned at her two favorite girls. Elizabeth jumped off the bed into Rachel's arms and Quinn twirled around and jumped until there was a knock on the door. She landed on the floor expertly.

"Open the door!" they heard Puck yell from the other side. Rachel hurried to the door and whipped it open and Puck stepped inside.

"What's going on, Puck? Mr. Schue will kill you…"

"Mr. Schue is on his way to the hospital with Brittany."


	25. Chapter 24

**-Chapter 24-**

There was a moment of silence where Quinn honestly felt the world stopped spinning.

"What?!" Quinn and Rachel shrieked. The world started spinning twice as fast as it had been.

"I guess she tripped over something and landed on her knee. It must be pretty bad because I've seen her take harder falls than that and she got up like nothing happened. She was all cryin' and stuff when Mr. Schue and Santana carried her out of the elevator."

"So…so what do we do?"

"I don't know Baby Mama."

"Well, duh," Rachel said. "We go to the hospital."

"That sounds familiar," Puck muttered. "I'm pretty sure you said the exact same thing two years ago."

"Actually what I said was 'Get your shit, we're going back to Lima!' and I'm pretty sure I yelled it and got death glares from several parents."

"You mean like you're getting now?"

Rachel glanced over and Quinn was glaring at her. "If she starts swearing…"

"I'm sorry."

"By the time we get everyone rounded up and ready to go they'll be back here though. I mean…they won't be there that long if it's not life threatening."

Quinn turned around to see Rachel behind her with her cell phone to her ear.

"Mr. Schue? What's going on?"

"Rachel!" Quinn hissed. "What are you doing?"

Rachel waved a hand at Quinn and kept talking. "_How long_ are they saying?"

"She's insane," Quinn shrugged. "She's just insane."

"Four hours!" Rachel shrieked. "Just for a room?! What is wrong with them?!...Yes, Mr. Schuester, I am aware that Branson has a smaller population and therefore a smaller hospital than the one in Lima but four hours?!"

"She's going to do great as an actress," Puck said. "Already demanding."

"You didn't know that before?"

"Well how do I contact the bus driver so that we can…We are too coming!"

"Oh boy," Quinn said. She handed Elizabeth to Puck and pulled the phone out of Rachel's hand. "Sorry about that Mr. Schue. Rachel's a bit wired from the Pixie Sticks she smuggled in." Rachel smacked her arm. "Ow, Rachel!"

"Quinn, please try to keep her under control," Mr. Schuester said. "I'm counting on you. We're going to be here for a while. One of the other choirs is here with food poisoning, there's more than twenty of them ahead of us," Mr. Schuester said.

"I will. So what exactly happened? Puck isn't exactly the best resource for information."

"She tripped and fell. Santana said she la—"

There was a scuffle on the other line and Quinn sighed.

"Hey Fabray, listen up," Santana said. "Hold on – Brit, I'll only be gone for a second, okay? I have to yell at Quinn." There was a pause before Santana came back on the line. "Okay, B is not happy about this and you guys being here won't help that. She already feels guilty and I had to stop her from bashing her head through the taxi window on the way here. You come here and that will just remind her of what happened. She feels like she's let everyone down and I'm not going to sit here and listen to her cry after you guys leave. So just stay there and tie Berry to something if you have to and I swear if you make a perverted joke out of that I will reach through this phone and smack the blonde off your hair."

Rachel started basically climbing on top of Quinn to try and hear the conversation. "Calm down, Santana. Just tell me what happened before – ow, Rachel! Get off of me! I'm trying to find out! – Just tell me what happened before Rachel claws the phone out of my hands."

"She tripped over her shoelace and landed on her knee. I heard a crunch, it was pretty sick and she probably dislocated it. Whether or not she did she won't be on her feet Saturday. I'm going to yell at someone in this hell hole to make sure she gets a wheelchair that isn't a rusty health hazard and maybe we can have her mirror Artie or something."

"Okay, I'll tell everyone and see if we can't start working on some of the choreography. Tell her we love her and we are _not_ mad at her. And Elizabeth sends her lots of kisses."

"I'll try not to vomit when I do. When the hell did you get so damn mushy?"

"Shut up and go take care of your girlfriend."

"And you go shut yours up."

"Later, S."

"Later, Q."

Quinn hung up the phone and sighed.

"What'd she say? What? Is Brittany okay?"

"Rachel, I am going to find someone in this building with valium and I _will_ drug you with it if you don't calm down."

Rachel dropped onto the bed and sat still, her eyes pleading for an explanation.

"Puck, go to the guy's floor and tell everyone to meet in the lobby of this floor, okay? Rachel and I will get everyone else."

Puck nodded and handed Elizabeth back to Quinn and left the room. Quinn dragged Rachel out of the room and they rounded up everyone on the girl's floor and as soon as they were all in the lobby Quinn handed Elizabeth to Finn. Everyone piled on the couches and chairs, Quinn stood before them.

"Brittany hurt her knee, bad," Quinn said. "Really bad. They think it might be dislocated but no one knows for sure yet because there's a really long wait before she'll see a doctor. Santana specifically asked that we not come because Brit's feeling really guilty about tripping because she thinks she's let us all down. They're going to see that she gets a wheelchair for the performance which means tomorrow we're going to have to change a lot of the choreography. I want everyone up and ready to start practice in the conference room at seven-thirty in the morning."

"Who died and made you boss?" Quinn heard from one of the girls that was hidden behind Finn.

"I'm sorry, who are you?"

The girl stepped out from behind Finn. Quinn groaned. It was the same one that had taken her spot sophomore year. She never could remember the irritating girl's name.

"Do you seriously still not know my name?"

"No, I don't."

"Katie Thomas. Why are we getting there two hours early? That's going to be really hard on…"

"You want to talk about hard?! Try being seven months pregnant and performing at regionals against Vocal Adrenaline, that's hard!"

Rachel's jaw dropped and Quinn smirked.

"So, seven-thirty?" Quinn said chipperly. Everyone else agreed and adjourned to their rooms.

"Smooth move, Sue Sylvester," Rachel murmured on the way back to the hotel room.

"I did learn a few good tips from her, I have to say."

Quinn's phone started ringing at two in the morning. She answered groggily and sat up as soon as she heard Santana's voice on the other end of the line.

"We're back. B's on some good painkillers and completely out of it right now but we're back."

"And?"

"Hold on."

Quinn waited for a few seconds before Santana came back on the line.

"Okay. I have to sit in the closet because she may be out of it but she can still understand. It's bad, Q. Really, really bad. They couldn't tell much because all they could do were x-rays but they know for sure that she dislocated it and there's probably some ligament damage, if they're not torn they're at least stretched really bad. Maybe cartilage damage, too."

"Oh God…S…S what about Columbia? She…she can't dance with something like that."

"The doctor said they won't know just how bad it is until we get home and do an MRI and all of that stuff but he said it's not good." Santana sighed. "There is a possibility…" Quinn heard Santana choke back a small sob. "He said that if it's as bad as he thinks it is that she won't be able to dance again for a while. Like…a really long time, especially if she has to have surgery."

"Does she know?"

"She knows she's going to have to have more pictures taken of it when we get home and it will hurt for a while but no, she doesn't know."

"Are you okay?"

"This is her _dream_, Q. I mean, she's got the whole sewing thing to fall back on but the only thing Brit's ever wanted to do is dance. If this is something that won't allow her to do that it will break her heart."

"You have to be there for her."

"I will be. I'm going to wait until we get back to Lima and she starts getting all the tests and shit done there before I let anyone tell her and I know her parents will agree with me. I know if I tell her now she'll break down and not be able to perform and I know she'll regret it later. We got the wheelchair, by the way. I'll make sure she doesn't lose this one."

"Get some sleep, S. I told everyone to be downstairs at seven-thirty to start rehearsals in the conference room. If you're late I'll understand but try to be there by nine at least."

"I will. I better get back to her before she forgets she's in pain and tries to walk."

"Night, S."

"Night."

Quinn hung up the phone and rolled over to check on Elizabeth who was still sleeping peacefully. Rachel had her head propped up and was looking at Quinn curiously.

"Well?"

"It's bad, Rach. We're talking possibility of permanent damage, bad. She doesn't know it though so don't say anything. Santana only told her it will hurt for a while and she'll be in the wheelchair to perform. There's a chance she won't be able to dance for a long time."

Rachel sighed and leaned over Elizabeth to kiss Quinn.

"Get some sleep, Quinn. Early start tomorrow thanks to you, mini-Sue."

Quinn stuck her tongue out and Rachel smiled.

Everyone, including the redhead whose name Quinn had again forgotten, was in the conference room at seven-thirty and Santana rolled Brittany in around nine. They'd already altered the majority of the choreography and Brittany only nodded and did her part for the rest of the morning while they finished the rest. It was harder than they thought because Brittany couldn't bend her knee, it was immobilized and sticking straight out and more than once Santana yelled at someone who knocked into it and made Brittany wince and hold on to it trying not to cry.

When they broke for lunch Quinn, Rachel, Santana, and Brittany sat together at a table in the hotel restaurant and Brittany kept ice on her knee, per doctor's orders. She didn't smile or talk, just picked at her salad and winced every time she shifted in her chair. Quinn's phone vibrated in her pocket and she jumped and picked it up, it was a text from Santana and Quinn looked at the girl across the table from her curiously.

"_She has barely said a word since last night. Can u & Berry try?"_

Quinn looked at Santana and nodded.

"Hey Brit," Quinn said. "We're going to the amusement park on Monday. Aren't you excited?"

Brittany shrugged.

"Don't they have a big water thing with ducks in it?"

Brittany shrugged again and poked at a crouton in her salad.

"If you want to rest for a while this afternoon I'll have Mr. Schue push practice back a few hours."

Brittany shook her head. Santana took out her phone that had started going off and turned off the alarm then rummaged around in her purse and pulled out a bottle. She grabbed two of the pills and put them in Brittany's hand and the blonde dropped them onto the table.

"I don't want them," she mumbled.

"B, you've got to," Santana pleaded. "It's not the painkillers, I promise. It's the stuff that makes sure you don't start swelling again."

Quinn whipped out her phone and immediately shot a text to Santana.

"_She won't take the painkillers?"_

Santana got Brittany to take the pills and then texted Quinn back.

"_She says they make her too tired to perform. And I think she's punishing herself."_

"_That's ridiculous. Why would she do that?"_

"_She feels stupid for tripping over her own shoelace."_

"_This is going to be harder than we thought."_

"_I know. I may have to crush it up and hide it in her food."_

"_Whatever helps."_

"_I keep telling her she's not stupid, she won't listen to me."_

"_Who are you texting? I've been poking you for five minutes trying to get your attention. –Rach"_

"_It's Santana. Brittany's depressed."…"Rachel tripped over one of Lizzy's toys the other day, should I tell her that?"_

Brittany cleared her throat and all three girls looked up from their phones at the blonde and then to each other. Santana looked at Quinn and nodded.

"Rachel tripped over Lizzy's shapes cube the other day," Quinn said.

Rachel snorted. "Quinn tripped over her own feet."

"I tripped my little brother." Santana shrugged.

Brittany looked at all three girls and they looked hopeful that the blonde would feel better. Brittany thought for a moment then sighed and went back to poking her salad.

"Brit," Quinn said. She brushed the blonde hair out of Brittany's face. "B, please. Talk to us. We're your friends."

"I'm fine," she whispered.

"You're in pain and you're sad. Those are two things that kill us, B."

"Laryngitis," Rachel said. Everyone looked at her and Brittany cocked her head to the side.

"Myocardial infarction," Santana said. "I can come up with spontaneous ailments, too. What's your point?"

"When we were in elementary school there was a talent show, remember? It was in fourth grade. Noah broke boards, Artie did a dance routine in his wheelchair, Tina read really scary poetry for a fourth grader, and I was supposed to sing."

"I remember that!" Quinn said. "My sister was a sophomore and she taught me a Cheerios routine!"

"I think I was suspended from performing for kicking the shit out of JewFro but I went because you and B were in it."

"I got laryngitis. I was going to sing 'Beauty and the Beast' and dance but I completely lost my voice three days before the show."

"And I remember going to church the Sunday after I found out and thanking God," Santana said with a smile.

Rachel scowled. "Anyways, even though I couldn't sing, I still danced. I did the best I could."

"And didn't you lose?"

"There were no prizes awarded, Santana. It was simply a showcase of talents. And I'm sure I would've won. The point is, I was so upset that I couldn't sing but I still made the best of it and I had a good time. You can't dance like you want to, Brittany, but you can still sing. And we did 'Proud Mary' in wheelchairs, remember? And you loved that!"

Brittany sighed. "Not the same."

"Maybe not exactly the same but you can do it, Brittany. You know you can do it and we need you to do it. Please. You can do this. We believe in you and we know you can do anything if you put your mind to it."

Brittany looked at Quinn and the blonde nodded. "Rachel's right, B. We have a ton of faith in you."

Brittany scrunched up her face in thought. Quinn glanced at Rachel then Santana then back to Brittany.

"Okay," the blonde said. "I'll do it."

"And you'll smile?" Santana asked. "You know I love it when you smile."

Brittany's lips curled upwards and when Santana broke into a smile Brittany couldn't help but smile fully as well. The other three girls got up from their seats and hugged the wheelchair-bound blonde.

The afternoon was spent perfecting the choreography and by dinner time even Rachel was satisfied. No one was knocking into Brittany and she was spinning around. Artie said he was very impressed and Mr. Schue ordered pizza for everyone, on him, because he was proud of everyone's hard work. Brittany was smiling but Quinn could see the pain behind the girl's eyes and Santana texted her that she had crushed up some of the painkillers and put it on Brittany's pizza. It was very apparent by the end of the evening because Brittany was nodding off in her wheelchair. Quinn and Rachel helped Santana get the blonde upstairs and into bed. Elizabeth kissed her BritBrit goodnight and Brittany slurred something that sounded like "goodnight" before she started snoring.

Quinn settled Elizabeth into bed early and Rachel put on some soft music and gripped onto Quinn's shoulder and took her other hand into her own, Quinn wrapped her free arm around Rachel's back. They danced together, Quinn spun Rachel a few times and the brunette giggled before coming back and resting her head on Quinn's shoulder.

"Do you have any regrets, Rach? About school, I mean?"

"Mmmm…not really."

"None at all?"

"If I'd done anything differently then I wouldn't be here right now and right here is where I want to be."

"I regret everything I did to you. All of it. Every slushie, every insult. Every time I hurt you."

"What about what you did to me Friday night? Do you regret that?"

Quinn giggled. "Definitely not. How's that bruise on your thigh?"

"Very your-mouth-shaped."

Quinn grinned. "You know…prom is coming up."

"Quinn, you know how I feel about school dances. They're just enablers for the fashion industry which fuels the theory of social hierarchy because of different socio-economic statuses and what they can afford in terms of clothing."

"I know and I respect your opinion, I really do. But…I-I was just wondering if maybe…" Quinn pulled away from Rachel and pushed the brunette's hair behind her ears. "Rachel Berry, will you go to our senior prom with me?"

"Quinn I don't know…I…I'm not…I don't have…"

"Kurt will take you shopping if I ask him to. And I promise you, I'll make sure he doesn't trick you or anything. He knows I'll kill him if he does that to you again."

"You really want to?"

"I do, Rach. I can't get you a limo or anything like that but I can promise that I'll make sure it's a night to remember. I want to dress up like princesses and go out and show you off. Surely you can indulge for one night?"

Rachel sighed and chewed her bottom lip. She finally smiled. "Okay."

Quinn smiled and pulled Rachel in for a kiss.

"Mama, Rachel night night!" Elizabeth called from the bed.

Rachel laughed and Quinn pressed a kiss to her forehead.


	26. Chapter 25

**-Chapter 25-**

Quinn kept her eye on Brittany all the next day. Brittany wasn't her normal, bubbly self but she wasn't depressed, either. Part of Quinn wondered if maybe Brittany wasn't as dumb as everyone thought and she really did know what was going on with her knee. She'd heard her ask Santana more than once why she wasn't allowed to move her leg and all Santana would tell her was that it would hurt.

Their preliminary performance wasn't what everyone had hoped it would be. There were a few missteps and the redheaded girl Quinn had exchanged words with ran into Brittany at the end of the second number. Santana actually stepped out of formation to make sure Brittany was okay and when the blonde nodded and wiped away her tears they resumed. They did make it into the top twenty but they knew they would have to be absolutely perfect the next day for finals.

They did a run through in the conference room again that night and the redhead ran into Brittany yet again and it took Puck to hold back Santana and Finn to hold back Quinn because they were ready to jump the girl, who again reminded them that her name wasn't "bitch" but Katie.

"Are you doing this on purpose?" Quinn growled. "If you don't want to be here then just say something already!"

"If blondie here would learn her damn cues…"

Santana jerked forward and Puck held on tight. "Don't you even think about blaming this on her!"

"It's not my fault your girlfriend is an idiot."

Puck let go. Santana tackled Katie to the ground and Quinn broke away from Finn to get to Brittany who was trying desperately hard not to cry. Rachel watched with a satisfied smirk as Santana scratched and clawed and swore at the screaming girl. Mr. Schuester finally came back into the conference room and pulled Santana away. He begged for help from the other guys but none of them obliged, they simply stood back.

"Santana! Calm down!"

"I want that _bitch_ on the next flight back to Lima!" Santana screeched. "Get her out of here!"

"I second that motion," Quinn said, momentarily looking up from Brittany.

"I third," Rachel said.

"Guys, no one is going home. Katie, are you okay?"

Katie only mumbled and found a chair. She dabbed away the blood from her split lip and various cuts on her face.

"You are all going to have to get over your differences here, the finals performance has got to be perfect."

"Then tell her to stop running into Brittany," Santana growled. "She's doing it on purpose."

"Look, we're going to run through it again and we'll see if we can move some people around. Let's just do it again after we get Katie cleaned up."

The next run through went smoothly and everyone was sent to their rooms for the night. Rachel's dads took Elizabeth for the night so both girls were sure to get plenty of sleep. The pair lay cuddled in the center of the large bed and Quinn's mind was racing.

"I think Katie has a crush on Santana," the blonde finally said.

"Huh?"

"The girl with red hair."

"Why would she hurt Brittany though?"

"Because she knows S will pay attention to her, even if it is trying to kill her."

"Oh."

"What would you do if you found out someone liked me?"

Rachel pulled away and sat up, hovering over Quinn. "Why?"

"I don't know, just wondering."

"You'd never act on it, would you?"

"Of course not, Rachel. What makes you think…" Quinn was cut off by Rachel's 'duh' look. Eyebrows arched and lips pursed. "Right. You know I'm sorry for what I did to Finn and that I would never do that to you."

Rachel nodded and dropped back down to the bed. "We're going to be okay, aren't we? When I leave?"

"I don't want to talk about it. I'm sorry I brought it up…let's just get some sleep."

"Quinn…"

"Big day tomorrow, Rachel. We'll talk about it later." Quinn pressed a kiss to Rachel's forehead and closed her eyes. Rachel sighed.

The original New Directions stuck close to each other backstage at the performance hall. Quinn and Rachel nervously held hands. Santana refused to let anyone within a five foot radius of Brittany who was in pain from refusing to take her painkillers again and wouldn't let Santana touch any of her food once she caught her trying to put a painkiller in her scrambled eggs that morning.

"That one this morning was really good," Kurt said to break the silence. "Did you see them actually _throw_ the girls into the air? It was like watching the Cheerios if they were a show choir."

"While I agree with Kurt concerning the choreography," Rachel sighed, "we're much more vocally advanced. While they mostly stuck to a two part harmony, occasionally splitting into thirds, we have the advantage of being much more diverse."

Everyone just nodded.

"Time to line up, guys," Mr. Schuester said when he found the group. "I just want to thank you, all of you. None of this would be possible without all of you and you know that. New Directions wouldn't exist if each of you hadn't had the guts to join. I am proud of each and every one of you for all of your hard work and I know you're all going to go on to do great things."

Rachel beamed and they all practically tackled their director in a group hug.

While waiting in the wings for the choir ahead of them to finish Quinn glanced over to see Rachel fidgeting with the hem of her skirt and glancing at her, lip nervously clutched between her teeth. Quinn broke out of formation and pulled Rachel to the side. Rachel's eyes told Quinn everything she needed to know. She wrapped one arm around the brunette's waist and the other around the back of her neck and pulled her in for a kiss. Rachel wrapped her arms around Quinn's neck and kissed back. Quinn pulled away and Rachel sighed and nodded, completely understanding.

"We'll be fine," Quinn whispered to make sure her point was clear.

Rachel nodded again. They rejoined their teammates and Rachel clutched onto Quinn's hand while the other choir filed off the stage. Rachel took a deep breath and looked at Quinn before taking the stage for her solo.

"This one's for you."

Quinn watched Rachel take the stage and belt out her ballad. It was absolute perfection. The rest of the performance was flawless. No one ran into Brittany and they received a standing ovation from the crowd. Santana forced Brittany to take painkillers when they got off the stage and the blonde was stretched out on a couch asleep in the green room in half an hour.

Rachel and Quinn found a quiet corner to snuggle up in until the awards ceremony. Rachel was surprisingly not interested in any of the other choirs.

"Are we really going to be okay?" Rachel asked softly. Her fingers were entwined with Quinn's and her head was on the blonde's chest.

"It won't be easy."

"I'll stay…"

"You will not, Rachel. I will club you over the head with your tripod and drag you to New York City if I have to."

"As long as you avoid my nose."

"Of course," Quinn giggled.

Everyone waited. Fifth place went to a choir from Colorado, fourth to one from Illinois, third to a blind choir from Minnesota. Rachel gripped hard onto Quinn's hand when second place went to the same choir from New York City that got it last year. Quinn was glad that she braced herself because Rachel literally leapt into her arms when they took first place again.

They celebrated in the conference room almost all night long. Rachel and Quinn's celebration continued in their hotel room. They shared one last kiss before succumbing to sleep just after the sun peeked through their window.


	27. Chapter 26

**-Chapter 26-**

Prom was only a week after the competition which gave Quinn and Rachel very limited time and very limited options as far as dresses were concerned. Quinn threatened Kurt and told him that she'd shave his head if he screwed Rachel over the afternoon she sent them out shopping. She found her dress from when she was a bridesmaid in her sister's wedding when she was a freshman. It was floor length and pale yellow, the skirt was full and she found a white ribbon to tie around her waist. She had Brittany tailor it to accommodate the fact that her body had changed with the pregnancy and it was perfect by Saturday night.

Jim and Chuck watched Elizabeth while Quinn took over Jim's study with Brittany so she didn't have to go up the stairs on her crutches. Rachel was in her room with Santana so the Latina could do Rachel's hair and makeup.

"How are you doing B?" Quinn asked as she pulled the other blonde's hair up.

"Why does everyone think I can't handle stuff?"

"What are you talking about sweetie?"

"I'm hurt and no one will tell me how bad it is. The doctors put me in this loud thing and it took pictures and all I know is that Santana said it's hurt and my parents bought me a new embroidery machine when I told them to tell me why it hurt so much. They only buy me things to distract me, like when I was twelve and couldn't go to that dance camp over the summer because all the slots were filled. They bought me a new bike."

Quinn sighed. Brittany didn't know that she knew the extent of the damage, that she'd almost torn her ACL and damaged her cartilage. The doctors said it would heal and Brittany would have to go through lots of physical therapy during the summer but no one had the heart to tell her that if she kept dancing there was always a chance she would damage it again and if that happened she would most definitely have to have surgery.

"B, they told you, if you go to the therapist like you're supposed to that it'll feel better."

Brittany growled. "I'm not stupid."

"I know you're not."

"I know what happens when dancers get hurt, Q."

Quinn was silent.

"I know I won't be able to go to school anymore."

"Maybe next year, B. You can get a job somewhere in Chicago for a while and then after you're all healed up you can go to school."

Brittany sighed and Quinn tied a shiny blue ribbon in the blonde's hair that matched her dress. Quinn helped Brittany up out of the chair and they went to the living room. Jim and Chuck both had big smiles on their faces when they saw Quinn.

"You look beautiful, honey," Jim said.

"Mama pretty!" Elizabeth squealed.

"Aw, thank you baby girl!" Quinn said with a smile. She took Elizabeth from Chuck and held the toddler on her hip. Brittany dropped into one of the armchairs and the pair waited. Santana came down the stairs first and Quinn helped Brittany back up so she could greet her girlfriend.

"You look stunning, babe," Santana said.

"It covers the brace," Brittany said, tugging at her dress.

"You know I don't care about the brace. You look awesome."

"So do you," Brittany said with a smile. "I like it when you wear red."

"Why do you think I stuck with Cheerios, hm?"

"Where's Rachel?" Quinn asked, breaking Santana's gaze away from Brittany.

"You know Berry, she wants to make an entrance. And dear God, Q…she is looking _good_. I'm serious. If she wasn't so irritating I might actually find her dateable."

Brittany stuck out her lip and whimpered and Santana turned back to her.

"Aw, B. You know you're my only girl."

"So Kurt didn't screw her over with the dress?"

"Have a look for yourself," Santana nodded towards the stairs.

The vision Quinn saw literally knocked the breath out of her. Rachel was in a strapless black gown with a slit up the side to her hip that had a white layer underneath. There were rhinestones in a starburst pattern at the top of the slit. Santana had put her hair up in a sleek French twist. Quinn squeaked. Santana grabbed Elizabeth and Quinn's everything went weak. Rachel was either walking really slow or someone hit a slow motion button on a remote somewhere, Quinn thought. Quinn met her at the bottom of the stairs and Rachel was a few inches taller than normal. Quinn grinned.

"You…are so gorgeous," Quinn finally managed to choke out.

Rachel smiled and kissed her. "You look pretty amazing yourself."

"But…you…wow. Just…wow, Rachel."

There was a flash and both girls snapped their heads to Jim who had a camera in his hands and was smiling proudly with tears in his eyes.

"All of you look lovely," he said.

After a ton of pictures of almost every combination of people they could get with the seven people present, Santana and Brittany followed Rachel and Quinn to the high school. The parking lot was packed, Santana dropped off Brittany at the front door and Rachel got out to keep her company while the other two parked their cars.

The gym was decorated with typical dance decorations, there were streamers and balloons and punch. Rachel gagged when she saw a tray of cheese and crackers set out. Brittany and Santana mostly stuck to the chairs lined up on either side of the gym. Quinn and Rachel danced together despite the glares from a few of the dance chaperones and a few snide comments from other students. It was nothing they hadn't heard before and they were determined not to let it ruin their night so they just listened to the too-loud bass of the music and held each other close.

The gym was hot and two hours into it both girls were sweating and Rachel's hair was starting to fall out of the twist. They roamed the halls, spotting a few other couples making out before they found a deserted stretch of hallway. Rachel slid down against the wall and hit the floor. She peeled her heels off and Quinn smiled and joined her on the floor.

"Having fun?" Quinn asked.

Rachel nodded. "I'm kind of glad you talked me into it."

"Will you do something for me, Rachel?"

"Hm?"

"Brittany…she's not stupid, you know? She knows what's going on and she knows she's not going to be able to go to school but no one will outright tell her about it. I know I'm guilty of it too but…don't ever do that to me, okay?"

"What do you mean?" Rachel furrowed her eyebrows.

"If something happens…don't lie to me about it. Like…when you're in New York…just don't lie to me about anything, okay?"

Rachel pulled Quinn's hand up and kissed the back of it. "Okay. But nothing's going to…"

"Rachel I'm not stupid, either. College in New York City, seriously?"

"If you don't trust me then why are you making me go?"

"I do trust you. It's everyone else I don't trust."

"Why are you doing this to me, Quinn? You tell me to go and that you won't go with me but you don't like that I'm going and you think I'm going to just throw the last year and a half away for some drunken fling?"

"That's not what I…"

Rachel got to her feet and grabbed her shoes. "I'm not the one with the track record, here," she hissed before running down the hallway. Quinn followed close behind.

"Rachel, please! You're completely overreacting!"

Rachel turned, Quinn sighed at the sight of the brunette's mascara running.

"Rach…"

"I want to go home," she whispered. "Can we please just go?"

Quinn nodded.

Rachel didn't protest when Quinn crawled in to bed with her after getting Elizabeth settled down. The blonde draped an arm over Rachel's waist and all she got was a mumbled "goodnight" in return.

Finals week was hell. Rachel was barely speaking to Quinn and Elizabeth chose that week to start in on the terrible twos. She decided that everything in sight belonged to her and would throw a tantrum if it was taken away and she was told "no".

The last day of school was bittersweet. There were still tears shed even though the original New Directions had plans the next night to gather at Finn's house for his goodbye party since he was leaving two days before graduation. Because everyone was busy getting things for college ready and Kurt was leaving just after graduation to start the summer semester in New York and Brittany still couldn't walk, the babysitting schedule was forgotten for the summer and Elizabeth went to her normal babysitter on Mondays and Wednesdays and Rachel silently agreed to keep her on Tuesdays and Thursdays and Puck still took her Fridays and weekends when Quinn wanted him to.

Quinn brought Elizabeth to the party at Finn's since Puck promised not to bring any alcohol with him. Quinn made small talk with Finn's mother while watching the tall boy soak up as much time with Elizabeth as he possibly could. Rachel was off somewhere comforting Kurt, Quinn had seen the boy burst into tears when Finn was talking about his flight information. Rachel finally appeared again from the kitchen with a very red-eyed Kurt in tow but at least he wasn't crying anymore. Quinn locked eyes with the singer across the room and Rachel slowly made her way to the blonde.

"Kurt okay?"

"Yeah."

Quinn sighed and swirled the glass of punch in her hand. "Lizzy's going to miss him," she finally said, gesturing to Finn.

"I've already promised him I'll keep posting videos on my MySpace and we can send him DVDs. And he'll be home for a little while after basic, he told me."

Quinn nodded. "I can't lie and say it doesn't scare me a little."

"There's very little conflict right now."

"That doesn't mean…"

"I know, Quinn."

"I want to talk to you tonight about what happened at prom, okay? Just you and me. I've already asked Puck to take Lizzy so we're uninterrupted."

Rachel nodded. "Okay."


	28. Chapter 27

**-Chapter 27-**

Rachel and Quinn adjourned to bed early that night and changed into their pajamas before settling down into their bed. Quinn slipped her fingers between Rachel's and sighed.

"You know I love you, right?" Quinn started.

"I do. And I love you."

"Rachel, I'm never going to be one hundred percent okay with you leaving or staying here, okay? But I'm more okay with you leaving than staying. You need to do this, Rach. You need to. I don't want you resenting me or Elizabeth if you stay in Ohio…"

"But Quinn…"

"No, no buts. You will resent it. You will always wonder what would've happened if you had gone and don't tell me you wouldn't because you will. If you go then you'll never wonder what could've happened if you'd stayed. I swear to you, Rachel, I swear I will wait for you and we will work it out. We'll talk every single day and everything, I swear."

Rachel sighed. "Quinn, what if I decide to stay there?"

Quinn swallowed hard and blinked back her tears. "Then you'll just have to buy a plane and-"

"I'm serious, Quinn! This isn't funny!"

Quinn dropped her head and looked down at the blanket, Rachel moved closer to her and wrapped her arms around the blonde's shoulders.

"I don't know," Quinn whispered. "I can't leave here, Rach. Not unless Puck moves with us and he won't…I don't know what will happen, Rachel."

"That is exactly why I am going to OSU."

"No," Quinn growled. "One year, you promised me! Two semesters, if you hate it then come home and that's it. I won't ever bring it up again."

Rachel pulled Quinn down to lie down and turned off her bedside lamp. "One year," the brunette surrendered. "And you're coming to New York with me to get set up."

"Of course."

……………

The entire glee club saw Finn off at the airport before graduation. There were rounds of hugs and tears and Quinn sobbed into his chest after he said goodbye to Elizabeth.

"It's just basic training, Q," he reassured her. "No big deal."

Quinn sniffled and nodded. "I know."

Puck pulled Finn into a tight hug and Finn whispered something to the mohawked boy and Puck just nodded.

"What'd he say?" Quinn asked when Finn was walking toward the metal detectors with his mother.

"Just told me to take care of you guys or else he'd throw grenades at me."

Quinn sniffled a few more times and Puck hugged her.

……………

Rachel made sure her dads had their video camera going at graduation and they sent a DVD to Finn. He wrote them an e-mail saying he loved it and some of the guys were nagging him because he cried a little when they dedicated the ceremony to him and then the shots of Elizabeth with Quinn and Rachel afterward. What Quinn didn't mention in her letter was that Figgins wanted the senior class of New Directions to sing but they refused to do so without their male lead.

Quinn had to do her best to not cry when they started packing up Rachel's things. Quinn migrated her clothes into the closet and dresser as Rachel packed hers away in boxes in preparation to make the move at the end of July. They started going shopping together for sheets and things to make storage a little easier in Rachel's dorm room. She'd gotten a singular room but it was tiny-looking according to the pictures they'd found online so Quinn was helping her come up with different ways to conserve space.

It was debated back and forth whether or not to let Elizabeth come with them to New York. Rachel insisted the toddler get to experience the city while Quinn said she was too young to really appreciate it. Rachel eventually won out. Quinn started taking Tuesdays off from the furniture store to give her time with Rachel and Elizabeth before Rachel had to leave. They would go to the park or if it was really hot Puck would let them tag along to go swimming in whatever pool he was cleaning. Quinn gave a disgusted groan every time he would start flirting with the woman of the house. Puck tried to give her the extra tips he got, in his words "because the cougars dig that I got a kid. I totally get tipped twice as much when she's around" but Quinn refused. Finally on a Sunday afternoon when she picked Elizabeth up he handed her a small bank book and Quinn furrowed her eyebrows at him.

"For her college fund or whatever," he said with a shrug. "I told you I was gonna help out and I am, okay? I'm going to keep putting money in it since you won't take any. It's not for you, it's for her."

Quinn sighed and smiled. "Okay, for her."

"I'm getting my own place at the end of the summer. There's this place where the rent is really cheap. It's only a one bedroom but I figure that will be okay for a while until I can get something bigger. So like…make me a list of stuff she needs, okay?"

"Puck, you should be keeping this money so you can make sure you have enough to buy furniture."

"I got it covered, babe. With mowing lawns and doing all that other stuff I'll be fine. Plus, my mom said she is gonna buy new furniture from you when I move so I'll take our old stuff."

"Fine, but if you need money then take it out of here, okay?" Quinn said, holding up the bank book.

"Will do, Baby Mama."

The day the U-haul trailer was packed and attached to the back of the Berry's SUV was one of the hardest days Quinn had in her life up to that point. The next day they would be leaving at six in the morning to drive to New York City and then the day after that they would be moving Rachel into her dorm then spending a few days sightseeing before Quinn, Elizabeth, and Rachel's dads returned to Lima.

Quinn and Rachel made very good use of their last night together after going to dinner and watching "The Wizard of Oz". Rachel snuggled into Quinn's side after their third round and giggled.

"What?" Quinn whispered after Rachel stopped laughing.

"Nothing," Rachel said. "It was just really, really good."

"When hasn't it ever been really, really good?"

"Well there was that time a few weeks ago when Elizabeth crawled out of her bed to come to ours."

Quinn groaned. "I've never seen you get dressed so quickly."

"I don't want to go," Rachel whispered.

"It's okay, Rach."

Rachel sighed. "I'm going to miss you."

The three Berrys and two Fabrays were up early the next morning. Elizabeth, Rachel and Quinn crammed into the back seat, Rachel in the middle, and they headed for the interstate. The ten hour drive was made even longer by pit stops to change Elizabeth. It was surprisingly quiet aside from the movie that was playing to keep the baby entertained. Rachel and Quinn mostly just snuggled together, Rachel's head on Quinn's shoulder and their fingers laced together. When they were about an hour away from the city Quinn had dosed off but was jerked away by a sniffle and Rachel trembling next to her.

"What's wrong, babe?" Quinn groaned. She pulled Rachel in closer to her and the brunette buried her face into Quinn's shoulder.

"I don't want to go," Rachel whispered. "Let's turn around and go home, okay?"

Quinn sighed. "Two semesters. They'll go by really fast, I promise."

They found a hotel near the campus and checked in, Rachel, Quinn, and Elizabeth in an adjoining room with Rachel's dads. Everyone was exhausted aside from Elizabeth who demanded she get to jump on the beds so Rachel and Quinn of course gave into her and they bounced until Elizabeth finally tired herself out and fell asleep. Quinn put her down on the pull-out couch and slipped into bed with Rachel and pulled the brunette into her.

The next day was hectic navigating through the other freshmen who were also moving into the dorms. It took nearly all day to get Rachel's room set up just the way she wanted and she somehow convinced Quinn to let her dads take Elizabeth for the night so the blonde could stay in Rachel's room with her. They didn't sleep much and Quinn was certain that at some point Rachel's neighbors were going to come in and yell at them to shut up but when they heard the stereos just turn up louder they both laughed and Rachel pounced on Quinn again.

The next day they took a tour of the campus then went to Central Park and the zoo. Quinn took tons of pictures of Elizabeth with the ducks and sent a few on her phone to Brittany. Rachel's dads surprised the pair with two tickets to Wicked for that night and they again took Elizabeth. The seats weren't the best in the world but they both watched, completely fixated, their first Broadway show and they agreed that it was ten times better because they had gotten to see it together.

On their last day there were about a hundred pictures taken just at the Statue of Liberty alone, the same with Times Square. Rachel demanded she get to stay at the hotel that night so she could say goodbye in the morning and because her tears still worked on Jim she did. She didn't let go of Quinn once that night and the blonde knew this because she didn't sleep. She just watched Rachel. She was close to telling Rachel that she could come back to Lima with them and they could all live happily ever after and she was sorry she ever forced her to come here but she knew she couldn't. Quinn wasn't about to let Rachel give up a dream or even a potential dream. So, when they woke up in the morning and Quinn packed hers and Elizabeth's things, she told Rachel she loved her and she'd call her when they were on the road and when they got back to Lima.

"I love you," Rachel whispered against Quinn's neck when she hugged her.

"I love you, too Rach. You're going to be fine, okay?"

Rachel nodded and pulled away. Her eyes were red to match Quinn's and Rachel burst into full on sobs when Elizabeth reached up for her. She picked the girl up and held onto her, Elizabeth kissed Rachel's cheek and smiled.

"Rachel no sad!"

"I'm going to miss you, my little gold star," Rachel sniffled and kissed the baby's temple.

"Come on sweetie," Quinn said, reaching for Elizabeth. "We have to go. Rachel's going bye-bye."

Elizabeth's eyes widened and she clung onto Rachel's neck. "Rachel no bye-bye!" the toddler squealed. "No!"

Rachel burst into a fresh round of sobs while Quinn pried a kicking and screaming Elizabeth off of the brunette and handed her off to Jim.

"She won't remember me!" Rachel wailed. "She's going to forget me! Quinn…Quinn I can't leave her or you…I can't!"

"Yes you can," Quinn said sternly. "She's not going to forget her Rachel, okay? I need you to get in that cab and go to campus and make friends and try out for theater and do all of that college stuff, understand? I need you do to it for me."

Rachel shook and clung onto Quinn again. The blonde kissed the top of her girlfriend's head and knew if she didn't pull away right then she never would. So she did. She kissed Rachel goodbye and helped her into the cab and shut the door and watched the yellow car drive out of the hotel parking lot before she got into the SUV and slumped down in her seat.

"I know you didn't want to let her go," Chuck said.

"She needs to do this," Quinn sighed, holding back tears. "She needs to. I don't want her to regret never giving it a chance."

"And that," Jim said, "is why I know you're in love with her."


	29. Chapter 28

**-Chapter 28-**

Quinn's phone blared "My Life Would Suck Without You", scaring her out of her desk chair and breaking her from glancing through her Marketing 101 textbook. She smiled and picked up her phone.

"Hey you," she said excitedly.

"Hey," Rachel's soft voice responded from the other end.

"How was your first day of class? Tell me _everything_!"

"Normal, nothing too exciting. Just talking about course outcomes and syllabuses and scheduling audition dates for the fall musical. They're doing _Little Women_."

"Which part are you going to audition for?"

"I haven't decided yet." Rachel's voice was still soft and melancholy.

"Rach, is something wrong?"

"Just tired, I guess. Tell me about your day. Have you heard from Brittany and Santana at all?"

"Well I made sure I had everything squared away for all of my classes to start next week and I bought all of my books. I was just going through my marketing class book and it looks really interesting. Santana called yesterday and said Brittany is doing really good, she's walking without a lot of pain and Santana finally convinced her to enroll in some classes at one of the community colleges."

"How's Elizabeth?"

"She's downstairs with your dads right now, probably making a mess in the kitchen trying to get dinner ready. She asked me twice today where you were."

There was a silence and Quinn heard Rachel let out a quiet sob.

"Rachel…"

"I-I can't do this, Quinn. I just can't!"

"Yes you can, Rachel. You can do this. Thanksgiving isn't that far away, alright? You just need to get out there and make some friends, make the time go by faster by having fun."

"I just feel so…so empty. I wake up in the middle of the night thinking I can just roll over and wrap my arms around you and then you're not there and it just _hurts_. I miss you so much…November is too long to wait."

"Well unless you miss class there really isn't another option, babe. It's a ten hour drive, don't forget. That's not exactly a weekend trip."

"I shouldn't have come here."

"Sweetie…"

"No, Quinn! You're the one that pushed me to come here! I would have been fine going to OSU in Columbus or even staying in Lima!"

"I didn't want you to throw your life away for me!"

There was more silence and Quinn finally sighed.

"Please Rachel…please do this for me. For me."

"For you," Rachel whispered.

"And try to make a few friends, yeah?"

"I'll try." Rachel sniffled.

"Hey you know I love you, right?"

"I know," Rachel whispered. "I love you, too."

Jim called up the stairs that dinner was finished and Quinn sighed.

"I've got to go, your dads just called that dinner's ready. Maybe after I get Lizzy down for bed tonight we'll Skype, okay?"

"Okay," Rachel said with a considerably lighter tone. "Tell everyone I said hi and that I love them."

"I will. I'll text you after dinner."

November couldn't come quickly enough. Quinn worked full time during the day while Elizabeth was at the babysitter and then one of Rachel's dads would take the toddler for the three evenings a week that Quinn had class. Puck took the baby almost every weekend so Quinn could get in more hours at the store and catch up on her homework. She and Rachel talked every single day and Quinn was finally starting to hear a change in Rachel's voice that signaled the brunette was adjusting and maybe just a little happier.

Quinn stood alone at the train station the Saturday afternoon that Rachel was suppose to come in. She'd given Elizabeth to Puck for the evening so she could meet Rachel. Quinn grinned when the announcer stated that the 5:15 from New York City had arrived and the blonde stood on her tip-toes to search for a short brunette. It took a few minutes but then there she was. Everything in Quinn smiled when Rachel spotted her and shrieked and ran toward her. Rachel didn't have to say anything, she just wrapped her arms around Quinn and settled her head on the blonde's shoulder. The pair stood in their embrace for a few minutes before Quinn pulled away.

"I missed you," the blonde whispered as she pressed a kiss to Rachel's forehead.

"I missed you too," Rachel sniffled. She stretched up and pressed her lips against her girlfriend's quickly before she smiled. "Let's go home."

Quinn nodded and picked up Rachel's bag and took her hand and took her out to the car. Rachel's dads met her at the front door with hugs and smiles. Jim took her bag upstairs and dropped it in Rachel's room and then the girls drove to Puck's apartment to pick up Elizabeth. Quinn held her breath when Elizabeth walked into the living room from the bedroom and looked up at Rachel.

The toddler's eyebrows furrowed and then her eyes lit up and she gasped.

"Rachel!" the tiny blonde shrieked. "Rachel! Rachel!" She ran to the brunette and Rachel picked her up and swung her around, holding her close to her chest.

"My little gold star, look how big you've gotten!"

"I'm big girl!"

"You are! You're so big!"

"Rachel no more bye-bye."

Rachel sighed and kissed the toddler's forehead. "Not right now."

Elizabeth settled her head on Rachel's shoulder and let out a content sigh.

Rachel jumped up and down the second she saw fresh cranberries in the refrigerator at the Berry house.

The week was spent with Elizabeth refusing to let Rachel out of her sight which spelled disaster for the pair when bedtime came and Rachel and Quinn really wanted to spend their night together but Elizabeth insisted on sleeping in their bed right in between them. The second night they did convince her to sleep in her own bed and Quinn welcomed Rachel home properly.

"God I've missed that," Rachel gasped when Quinn snuggled up against her.

"You and me both."

"This is a perfect example of why I should move back ho-"

"I don't want to get into this right now, Rachel."

Rachel groaned and Quinn pulled away a little.

"I'm sick of this!" the brunette growled. "I can make my own decisions, Quinn! If I want to move back here then there's nothing you can do about it."

Quinn sighed and sat up and reached for her shirt. "I don't want you giving up…"

"What I am giving up," Rachel snapped as she threw back the covers and started searching for her own clothes, "is time with you and with Elizabeth. Time I'll never get back because you think I can't make my own choices! I'm not a child!"

Once dressed Rachel grabbed her pillow and stormed out of the bedroom. Quinn groaned and dropped her head back to her own pillow. She waited a few minutes to give Rachel a chance to calm down before she got out of bed and followed the brunette's trail downstairs. Rachel was curled up on the couch, her form illuminated by the TV on late night infomercials.

"That blender sucks," Quinn said from the bottom of the staircase, nodding to the TV. "Finn had one at his house. I put a banana in there for a smoothie and it barely turned it into mush."

"What do you want?" Rachel muted the TV and looked over at the stairs.

"You're not a child," Quinn sighed. She crossed the floor and dropped to the couch next to Rachel. "You've wanted New York a lot longer than you've wanted me."

"I hate New York. It's filthy and everyone is extremely abrasive and you're not there."

"You made a promise to me, Rachel. I…I can't stop you from moving back here whenever you want but I'll never think that you don't resent me if you don't stick this out."

"I _won't_ resent you, Quinn! If I want to do something then I'll do it. No regrets."

"You'll regret it, Rach. Maybe not for a while. But you will."

……………

The month between Thanksgiving break and winter break was hell for Quinn. She had her finals and of course everyone and their brother wanted to buy furniture that year for Christmas so she was working overtime at the store and barely saw Elizabeth until the day after her last final. Quinn completely lost track of time after that trying to work as much as she could and also get Elizabeth's Christmas shopping done. She got so lost that she forgot which day Rachel was coming home and when she was tackled upon entering the Berry house she was so startled that she immediately punched at the offender and Rachel shrieked and hit the floor.

"Oh my God, Rachel!" Quinn gasped and knelt down next to the brunette. She covered her mouth with both hands when she saw the pool of blood in Rachel's cupped hands.


	30. Chapter 29

**-Chapter 29-**

"You broke my nose!" Rachel gasped.

Quinn helped the brunette up and into the kitchen. Rachel stood over the kitchen sink and blood trickled out of her nose. Quinn grabbed a towel and pinched it off, Rachel shrieked because it hurt and Jim came running upstairs.

"What happened?!"

"I think I broke her nose! Oh God! Rachel! I'm so sorry! Oh God what do we do?!"

Thirty minutes later they were sitting in the Lima urgent care center with Rachel holding an ice pack over her nose waiting for the doctor to come in after they'd taken x-rays. The brunette was already sporting the beginnings of two black eyes. Quinn was trying desperately not to burst into tears.

"You know," Rachel said, "all those years I knew you wanted to punch me in the face…I really thought you'd moved beyond that."

Quinn groaned. "You're making me feel worse."

Rachel giggled and then whimpered. Quinn reached over and rubbed the brunette's back.

"You've got quite an arm there, Ms. Fabray," the doctor said when she came into the small room. "Fractured in two places, Rachel. You'll need to get fitted for a splint and follow up with your regular doctor toward the end of your break."

After Rachel was fitted with the splint and she cried one more time because the nurse that was fitting her slipped and hit her nose, Jim, Rachel, and Quinn drove through the Dairy Queen despite the fact that it was snowing. Rachel smiled a little at her Oreo blizzard and exchanged tastes with Quinn and her M&M blizzard. They went to the pharmacy to pick up Rachel's prescription pain pills and the brunette immediately took one and by the time they got to the Berry house it was obvious she was feeling the side effects very well.

"So was the fractured nose one of my Hanukkah gifts or were you planning on breaking my leg?" Rachel slurred with a grin.

Quinn shook her head and helped the wobbly girl into the living room and dropped her on the couch. She giggled at the brunette whose attention was now focused on the half melted blizzard in her hand. Rachel was staring at it intensely, almost as if she wasn't quite sure what to do with it. The blonde's eyes drifted to the shiny metallic splint on Rachel's nose and she dashed upstairs and went through the desk in their room. She found a sheet of gold star stickers and peeled one off then hopped down the stairs again. Rachel was still staring at her cup.

"Hold still," Quinn said as she sat down next to her girlfriend. She cupped Rachel's jaw with one hand and gently stuck the gold star sticker on the splint. "There!"

Rachel crossed her eyes. "What'd you do?"

"It's a gold star. It definitely looks more 'you'."

Rachel nodded and grinned again. "Wanna go upstairs?"

"I don't think you and stairs are a good combination right now."

"But I wanna have sex!"

Quinn squeaked and clapped her hand over Rachel's mouth. "Jim is in the kitchen!"

Rachel mumbled something against Quinn's palm and the blonde removed her hand.

"Daddy knows we have sex!"

Quinn covered Rachel's mouth again as the brunette dissolved into a fit of giggles.

"What am I going to do with you?"

Rachel's giggles stopped and Quinn pressed her hand even harder against the brunette's mouth.

"Do_ not_ answer that!"

Rachel started giggling again and Quinn removed her hand and wiped it on her jeans.

"This is worse than the time you got drunk at Puck's party," Quinn mumbled.

Jim came into the living room with an ice pack for Rachel's nose and before Quinn could stop her Rachel giggled again.

"Quinn doesn't think you know we have sex!"

Quinn dropped her head in her hands. "I am so, so sorry…"

Jim chuckled a little. "Paybacks, sweetie. You did this to Rachel when you were coming out from under anesthesia after you had Elizabeth."

"Can we go upstairs now?"

Quinn shook her head. This was going to be a long break.

When Rachel finally came out from under the side effects of her pain medication and Quinn told her what happened the brunette agreed that anytime she took one of the pills she would stay locked in their bedroom until she regained the filter between her brain and her mouth not only for the sake of not embarrassing the pair in front of Rachel's dads but also because she didn't want Elizabeth picking up any new words. Rachel brought a DVD with her of the fall production that they did of the musical version of _Little Women_ and Quinn watched excitedly each time Rachel took the stage in her part as Jo.

"Don't worry about him," Rachel assured Quinn after an on-stage kiss with the young man playing Professor Bhaer. "He's dating Hank, one of the costume designers."

For Hanukkah they alternated again between the Berry house and the Puckerman house at Puck's mother's insistence. Christmas Eve day Rachel and Quinn were in the living room playing with Elizabeth and one of her new toys when the doorbell rang. Rachel quirked an eyebrow and Quinn shrugged. The brunette hopped off the floor and opened the door and shrieked.

"Finn!"

Quinn sprung off the floor and almost tackled Rachel and the tall young man standing in the foyer.

"Finn! Oh…oh my God you look amazing!" Quinn shrieked.

Finn grinned and puffed out his chest a little, proudly showing off his pins on his military jacket.

"Basic was brutal but it totally got me in shape." He took off his hat and smiled. "You like my hair?"

"A military haircut suits you very nicely," Rachel said. "Come in and sit down!"

Finn nodded and walked further into the house, Elizabeth looked up from one of her puzzles and studied him closely. Finn handed a box that was wrapped in brightly colored paper and two gift bags off to Rachel and the brunette put them under the Christmas tree.

"She probably doesn't remember me."

Quinn picked up her daughter and took her to Finn and nudged the young blonde in his direction.

"You remember Uncle Finn, sweetie," Quinn said.

Elizabeth reluctantly reached out and Finn took her and lifted her high above his head and the young blonde shrieked with delight.

"If she doesn't," Quinn said, "I don't think she cares."

"Finn higher!" the blonde squealed.

"Or maybe she does," Rachel said with a shrug.

Finn smiled and dropped to the couch, Elizabeth scrambled out of his arms to go back to her puzzle and Rachel and Quinn both took seats next to him.

"It's really great to see you, Finn," Rachel said. "We had no idea you'd be home."

"Yeah…I got a couple weeks pass before I uh…" Finn rubbed the back of his neck and stared down at the coffee table. "They're shipping my unit out. Like out to Iraq. It's not in combat or anything, just a police thing really. It's in a peace zone or something. It's only for six months."

Quinn swallowed hard and saw Rachel do the same.

"It'll totally be fine," Finn assured them with his goofy grin. "I can e-mail you guys and everything."

Quinn leaned over and clung onto Finn. She tried hard not to let her tears spill onto his uniform and she pulled back to grab a Kleenex and wipe her nose.

"You better e-mail us," the blonde said. "And you better come home safe. Does Puck know yet?"

Finn shook his head. "I'm gonna tell him in a few days. He'll be pissed for a while but he'll get over it. Nice splint, Rach! Quinn e-mailed me about that."

Rachel grinned. "Quinn decorated it."

"Can Liz open her present now? Like, I don't know if I'll be able to come by again tomorrow 'cause my whole family is coming in."

Rachel jumped up off the couch and grabbed the colorful box and sat down in front of Elizabeth with her puzzle. She handed her the box and Quinn grabbed her camera off of the coffee table.

"I hope it fits," Finn said as the toddler tore open the paper. "I told the lady at the counter how old she was and she helped me pick it out."

Rachel helped Elizabeth get the box open and she pulled out a pink t-shirt with a camouflage design on it and shorts to match.

"Read the shirt!"

Rachel grinned as she read. "It says 'I love my Army uncle'." Rachel flipped over the shirt and the army seal was on the back.

"That's adorable, Finn," Quinn said as she hugged him again. "Thank you. Elizabeth, tell your Uncle Finn thank you for the pretty outfit."

Elizabeth squealed. "Thank!"

"You guys can open yours too. I don't think it matters which bag, they're the same thing."

Rachel nodded and grabbed one of the bags from under the tree and handed it to Quinn and grabbed the other for herself. They each pulled out t-shirts that matched Elizabeth's only without the writing on the front.

"I got one for like, everyone," Finn said. "They were too awesome."

"I got you something from New York," Rachel said, heading for the stairs. "I didn't have time to ship it to you though."

The brunette disappeared and Quinn shrugged. "She never mentioned anything to me."

Rachel returned with something in a shopping bag and tossed it at Finn.

"I realize that it's not military regulation clothing but I thought you could wear it in your spare time if you have any."

Finn pulled out a standard white "I love New York" t-shirt and smiled.

"Awesome! I always wanted one of these!"

He reached his arms out and Rachel dove in for a hug.

"I should get going. My grandparents are coming tonight and I promised my mom I'd be there to help with stuff."

After another round of hugs and a few more shed tears by Quinn and Rachel, Finn left with his t-shirt.

Quinn dropped back to the couch and looked at her daughter and sighed.

"I still hate myself for hurting him," the blonde sighed. "He never deserved it."

"I think he's over it," Rachel said. "He loves being the uncle."

Finn came by the day before he had to fly back to base to say goodbye. Rachel and Quinn were both glad that he had on civilian clothing because they cried into his chest when he left and made him promise to write and e-mail and call anytime.

Rachel was told by the doctor she had to keep her splint on for another month after she got back to New York and then check with the student health center there to make sure she had healed properly. Quinn was thankful that there wasn't any change in shape that she could see but she had noticed Rachel's snoring got a little louder. She would deal with it, though.

Rachel's airport departure was a tearful one but Quinn refused to let hers show until she got back to the SUV with Jim and Chuck.

"Honey," Chuck said when Quinn started sobbing on the way back to Lima. "Just tell her you want her to move back."

"I can't, she needs this she needs-"

"Sweetheart," Jim said, "you promised her you wouldn't fight it if she wanted to come home. You can tell her now."

Quinn sniffled. "If she brings it up again I will, but not until then."


	31. Chapter 30

**-Chapter 30-**

Rachel didn't bring it up. She talked about her classes and the musical they were doing that Quinn had never heard of but Rachel seemed to be excited about. Quinn got a dozen red roses delivered to her at the furniture store on Valentine's Day and sent Rachel a dozen pink and paid extra to have the florist sprinkle gold stars in the petals. Their video chat got awkward that night when Elizabeth sleepwalked into Quinn's room and the blonde panicked and shut her laptop.

Rachel could only go to Lima for three days on spring break due to the student director being "worse than Sue Sylvester on steroids" about performances being perfect.

"Did you get Finn's e-mail the other day?" Quinn asked while the pair was rummaging around in the kitchen for a midnight snack.

"Yes. I feel horribly sorry for him having to deal with the heat. I mailed him a care package with sunglasses and plenty of antiperspirant in it and sent him an e-mail telling him to watch out for it. He sent me one back thanking me profusely."

"I saw on the news some attacks," Quinn said quietly. "I know we don't know exactly where it is but…"

"He's fine," Rachel said insistently. "He said he's in peaceful territory. He's fine."

……………

It was late April, Quinn was driving home after picking up Elizabeth from the babysitter and she knew because she was running a few minutes later that traffic would be heavy so she decided to cut through and go down Finn's street because it would be quicker than sitting in traffic and she hadn't seen Mrs. Hudson in a while. As she slowed down, ready to turn into the driveway she noticed an unfamiliar car there instead. Quinn pulled to a stop at the curb and her heart dropped. The car had military plates. Quinn shut her car off and stared at the front door of the Hudson house and attempted to remember how to breathe.

"Mama! I want juice!"

Quinn sighed and tore her gaze away from the house and dug through the backpack that was in the front seat with her. She pulled out an apple juice box and stuck the straw in and handed it back to Elizabeth. She turned her attention back to the house just in time to see two uniformed men come out the front door. Quinn jumped out of her car and pulled Elizabeth out of the back seat. She hoisted the girl up on her hip and turned. She saw Finn's mother standing in the doorway clutching a letter in her hands watching the two uniformed men get in their car. When she got up to the door Finn's mother looked up at her with tears in her eyes and it took everything Quinn had not to collapse on the spot.

"Mrs. Hudson…" Quinn choked out. "I-I was driving by…I saw the car…"

……………

When Quinn finally got home she settled Elizabeth in the living room with a movie and went to the kitchen. She stood over the sink and sobbed. She really wished at that moment Rachel's dads hadn't gone on vacation for the week. She wasn't entirely sure how she could function and she felt absolutely horrible leaving Finn's mother but she had to. The blonde finally composed herself and focused on the task at hand. She had to do what Mrs. Hudson had asked of her, she absolutely had to.

Quinn peaked into the living room, Elizabeth was fully engaged in watching _The Little Mermaid_. Quinn pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and dialed Rachel's number. She almost wished that Rachel wouldn't pick up. The wish didn't come true.

"Hey! I wasn't expecting you to call until later!" Rachel answered.

"Rachel…where are you?"

"I'm in my dorm, just going over a play I have to review for my Shakespeare class. Why?"

"Is there anyone else around?" Quinn choked back a sob.

"No, just me. Quinn, what's wrong?"

"Rachel, I have to tell you something," Quinn whispered.

"Okay…"

"I-I was driving home and…I…I…sometimes I go over to Mrs. Hudson's house to see her, you know? I was…I was going down the street and…I…"

"Quinn, what happened? Were you in an accident? Just tell me!"

"There…there was this car in Finn's driveway. A…a military car. So I pulled over and I waited and these two men came out of his house so I went up to the door to see what was going on…"

"Quinn…" Rachel choked.

"Finn's unit was attacked a few days ago…he…he pulled like six other guys to safety and when he went back for another he was…he…Finn was shot…he-he didn't make it, Rach."

There was a silence for what seemed like an eternity before Rachel started sobbing. Quinn tried to muffle her sobs with a kitchen towel.

"I'm coming home," Rachel finally choked out. "I'll find a train out as soon as I can and I'll let you know when it comes in."

"Okay. I-I have to call everyone else. I promised Mrs. Hudson I would."

"I'll talk to you later."

"I love you, Rachel."

"I love you too, Quinn."

Quinn hung up the phone and stared at the screen before dialing Santana's number. She knew there was no way she'd be able to tell Brittany; Santana was always better at those things, she knew how to deal with the blonde. The phone calls were all the same, each glee kid ended it stating they were coming home and they would text Quinn to let her know when. She didn't call Puck. Instead she gathered up Elizabeth and buckled her into her car seat. Quinn tried her best to control her tears as she drove through town to Puck's apartment building. She buzzed him and he let her up when all she could do was sob into the intercom. Puck met her at the door and pulled her inside. He set up Elizabeth in his room with a movie and Quinn fell to the couch.

"What's wrong Baby Mama?"

"It's Finn…"

Puck was silent. He stared down at the coffee table and started shaking.

"His unit was attacked…he pulled a bunch of them out of danger before…he died a hero, Puck. I-I guess he's getting a ton of medals, even the Medal of Honor…"

Puck slammed his fist down on the coffee table and growled. "I told him! I told him this would happen! Why couldn't he just listen to me? I told him I would give him a job and he wouldn't have to do this!"

Quinn could do nothing but wrap her arms around the young man as he trembled and finally broke down and cried. She buried her head into his shoulder and stayed with him until he calmed down.

"I-I still have to tell Mr. Schue. W-will you go with me?"

Puck nodded shakily and Quinn followed him to his bedroom and she picked Elizabeth up off of her bed, the toddler was fast asleep. Puck went to his bathroom and Quinn waited while he cleaned his face. The ride to Mr. Schuester's house was silent. When Quinn knocked on the front door their former teacher greeted them with a smile.

"Mr. Schuester…" Quinn whispered with a forced, small smile.

"Quinn, come on, we're adults, you can call me Will," he said. He looked closer at Quinn and Puck, who was holding Elizabeth, and his smile disappeared. "What's wrong? Come in and sit down."

Puck and Quinn followed their former teacher to the sitting room.

"I'll go get Emma," Will said. He left the room and returned a few minutes later, a very pregnant redhead in tow.

"Mrs. Schuester," Quinn said with a nod.

"Please, Quinn, you can call me Emma."

Will and Emma sat opposite Puck holding Elizabeth and Quinn.

"What's going on, guys?" Will asked.

Quinn quietly recounted the events of her afternoon and by the time she was done, Will's head was buried in his hands.

"Oh honey," Emma soothed. "Oh I'm so sorry…for all of you."

"He always did do the right thing," Will choked.

"I think we should do something for him," Quinn said. "Mr. Schue…the funeral is next Saturday, everyone should be here in the next couple of days. Do you think you could find something for us to sing? The original New Directions?"

"I'm certain I can find something. I'll get started on it tomorrow morning, tell everyone practice starts Wednesday after school."

Quinn nodded. Her phone beeped and she took it out.

"Rachel's train will be here at nine in the morning," she said, reading the text message.

"I can't believe this is happening," Puck mumbled. He stroked his daughter's hair. "She won't even remember him."

"We've got plenty of pictures, Puck."

"I think when you drop me back at my place I'm going to go see his mom, see if she needs anything."

"That's a wonderful gesture, Noah," Emma said. "I'm sure Mrs. Hudson will be grateful."

Puck nodded and Quinn could tell he was trying not to cry again.

As the evening went on Quinn got text messages from each glee club member telling her of their arrival plans. Brittany and Santana's train was coming in at nine-thirty. Artie's flight was landing in Columbus at two-thirty, Mike and Matt would picking him up at the airport and they were all driving in together. Kurt was taking the same train as Rachel and Mercedes and Tina had made plans to meet up at the Lima bus depot since their buses got in around the same time.

Quinn met Rachel at the train station the next morning. The stood on the platform and held on to each other and cried. Kurt joined them and they both hugged him before heading to the platform where Brittany and Santana's train was to come in.

"How's Noah?" Rachel sniffled.

"He stayed the night at Finn…at Mrs. Hudson's last night. Elizabeth is with the babysitter for today, I called Chuck and he told me it was okay to shut down the store for a few days so I went in early this morning and left a sign in the window saying why we were closed."

Rachel nodded. Kurt pointed to a Latina and a tall blonde stepping off the train that had just pulled in and they started crying all over again when they saw how red Brittany's eyes were. After a round of hugs they all loaded their luggage into the Berry SUV and cramped in. Rachel's hand immediately took Quinn's and she held on tight. Quinn dropped Kurt off first, then Brittany and Santana at Santana's house. The ride for Quinn and Rachel back to the Berry house was silent, Rachel's hand never left Quinn's until they had to. The house seemed empty without Elizabeth running around. Rachel and Quinn both collapsed on the couch and leaned against each other. They didn't move or talk for hours. Nothing needed to be said. Finally, after her stomach rumbling for half an hour, Quinn got up off the couch and Rachel followed her to the kitchen. They made lunch, just sandwiches and chips. Quinn's phone beeped at two-thirty, Artie's plane had landed and Matt and Mike were getting his chair loaded in the back of Mike's truck.

"We have glee club practice tomorrow after school," Quinn said softly after the text from Artie.

"Quinn are you delusional?"

"We're singing at the funeral on Saturday. Mrs. Hudson already made the arrangements. Mr. Schue is picking out music."

Quinn picked up her phone and mass texted the glee club alumni, she immediately got responses that everyone would be there. She and Rachel sat in silence once more.

"Quinn?"

"Hm?"

"I love you."

"Love you too, Rach."


	32. Chapter 31

**-Chapter 31-**

When Quinn and Rachel stepped into the auditorium the next afternoon there were eleven stools set up on stage and Will Schuester was placing sheet music on each one and one on the ground at the end of the row, except the one on the right end. Quinn took Rachel's hand and they walked down the steps to the stage. Their director gave them a nod and they each took a stool and waited. One by one their former classmates filed in and took seats. The last stool on the right was left empty.

"I've talked to Mrs. Hudson," Will said. "We're doing two numbers. She's asked us to do 'Don't Stop Believin' at the church and I picked another for at..." he choked, "at the graveside. Is that good with everyone?"

Everyone nodded.

"Yeah, but who takes the male lead?" Puck asked.

"I took care of that, too. You guys remember last year when we recorded that CD for a fundraiser? Well I had a couple people play with the audio. Our vocals have to be spot on otherwise it won't work but listen," Will said. He aimed a remote control up to the sound booth and the intro to "Don't Stop Believin'" blared through the speakers. Finn's voice echoed through for the beginning harmony and then his solo followed by a silence where Rachel would take the female lead. It alternated between Finn's voice and the silence for Rachel's part, followed by Finn singing his part in the group harmonies. By the time it was done every single person on stage was breathless.

"What do you guys think?"

"I think," Rachel said quietly, "it's perfect."

"The one at the graveside will be a capella," Will said. "The reason I chose this song, Finn would never admit to it, but it's the first song I ever heard him sing. It's the reason I made him join glee club. He was in the showers…"

"You were stalking Finn in the shower?" Puck cut in. There was a murmured giggle from the rest of the glee club.

"I was in there to find out if any of the football players wanted to join, Puck, surely you remember that. I heard him sing 'Can't Fight This Feeling' and I knew we had to have him. So, take a look at your sheet music for a bit and we'll get started."

Brittany raised her hand.

"Yeah, Brittany?"

"This is a ballad," the blonde stated.

The auditorium was silent followed by applause from everyone and laughter mixed with tears as everyone hugged Brittany. She looked at each of them strangely but didn't refuse any of the hugs.

A few of the glee clubbers were a bit rusty and it took quite a bit of tuning but by the end of their first practice they had the ballad close to perfect. Quinn brought Elizabeth to practice the next afternoon and everyone cooed over the toddler. She sat patiently on Will's lap while the club rehearsed "Don't Stop Believin'" and the little blonde squealed and clapped each time they finished a run-through. They had to stop a few times when they would stray from the tempo of the track or someone would miss a cue but they had improved greatly from the beginning of the two hours to the end.

Everyone arrived at the church early Saturday morning and ran through their first selection in one of the Bible study rooms before the crowd started to arrive. Finn's casket was off to the left side of the front of the church leaving plenty of space on the right for the glee club. Mrs. Hudson insisted that even though the first few rows were traditionally reserved for family that the glee club take them along with her. Jim and Chuck sat in the back with Elizabeth. Most of the McKinley High staff and class of 2012 were in attendance. By the time the service started it was standing room only in the church.

Quinn listened as the pastor told about Finn's life, his devotion to his family and friends, his love for football and glee club, and his sacrifice for his country. He talked about Finn's father giving the exact same sacrifice and how proud father would be of son for his achievements. He listed the awards Finn received posthumously for his services to the United States Army and concluded with a prayer and introducing Mr. Schuester. The glee kids rose from their seats and took their places in the open space while Will talked.

"Finn Hudson was more than just a student at McKinley High," Will spoke. "Finn was a talented performer, gifted athlete, and dedicated friend. His loyalty showed time and time again in glee club, especially in our beginnings. He helped take us to nationals three years in a row, even though we never actually made it to the first one." Everyone glanced at Quinn and the blonde smiled when Rachel patted her on the back. "Finn was just a nice guy, plain and simple. The selection that the original McKinley High New Directions Glee Club is going to perform for you is one that Finn himself helped arrange the music for and we hope it brings a smile to your face, just as it always did his."

It was all a blur for Quinn. She heard the music start and her brain immediately kicked into performance mode. She almost faltered when she saw Rachel singing and looking up a little where Finn was supposed to be during one of the duet parts, tears streaming down the brunette's face but her voice never once wavering. When the music stopped and Quinn's head dropped she broke down silently. She was vaguely aware of the pastor thanking them but more aware of Rachel's hand on her shoulder pulling her back to the pew. Quinn looked on, crying with the rest, as Puck, Matt, Mike, Kurt, two of Finn's friends he met in the army, and Artie rolling behind took Finn's casket out of the church. Quinn stood to follow Rachel but they were both stopped by Finn's mother.

"Thank you," she said, looking up at Quinn and over to Rachel. "Finn told me in a letter he wrote while he was over there that he almost wore out the CD he had of you all singing this. He even made copies of it for some of his friends before he left to go over there and they would play it to their units. Just remember that whatever you all do in this life, you had an impact through your music. Never forget it."

Quinn nodded and hugged Finn's mother, Rachel did the same. They left the church to go to the graveside service. Finn was buried next to his father, full military honors. Mrs. Hudson was presented with Finn's flag and there was the twenty-one gun salute and of course "Taps". It was hard but Quinn finally composed herself enough to get through "Can't Fight This Feeling" without any major vocal problems. She stepped out from under the tent when the service ended, Rachel's hand in hers and Elizabeth on her hip. It was drizzling.

……………

Rachel departed the following Monday. She begged Quinn to let her stay longer but the blonde had Rachel's ticket booked and ready to go demanding that the brunette not sacrifice anymore rehearsal time. Rachel almost didn't get on the train when Elizabeth started to cry after she was handed back to Quinn but Quinn practically pushed her into the car and Rachel sighed and waved at the two blondes as the train pulled away from the station.

Quinn and Puck's lives were the only ones that didn't completely go back to normal after that weekend. While everyone else got to leave Lima to go back to their studies full time, the pair took on the responsibility of dealing with Finn's mother in the weeks that followed. Quinn stopped by at least two or three times a week on her way home with Elizabeth and Puck was usually always there, sometimes mowing the lawn or cleaning the gutters. He refused to let Mrs. Hudson pay him, although he didn't refuse when she insisted on cooking him dinner. It was a little over a month after it happened when Mrs. Hudson asked Quinn and Puck to start going through Finn's things and taking anything out that Finn wouldn't want his mother to find.

The pair stood outside of Finn's bedroom door and Quinn took a deep breath. She heard Elizabeth jabbering and squealing downstairs and she smiled. Puck reached around the blonde and opened the door. It was almost exactly as Quinn had remembered it from the short period of time she lived there her sophomore year. Except now it was much cleaner. His bulletin board was filled with pictures of the glee club and football team, his letter telling him the dates he was to leave for basic training was tacked to the bottom. There were a few pictures of him and Elizabeth and one of him and Quinn, another of him and Rachel.

Puck started rummaging around under the bed and he pulled out a metal locked box. He set it up on the bed and went to the closet. He felt around above the doorway and grabbed the key.

"How'd you…"

"He told me before he left after Christmas," Puck mumbled. "Said 'hey dude, if anything happens, my porn stash is under my bed, key is above the inside of the closet door'. Like it was a fucking joke or something." Puck sat on the bed and stared at the box.

Quinn sighed and joined him sitting on the bed. Puck buried his head in his hands and let out a quiet sob.

"Why'd he have to do this to us, Quinn?"

"No one knew this was going to happen, Puck. He was supposedly in a peaceful zone or something, that's what he told us in all of his e-mails and letters."

"I just don't get it though! Why did it have to happen to him? He never fuckin' did anything to anybody! He was nineteen, Q! It's bullshit!"

"I don't know."

"God I just hate this!" Puck stood up and started pacing the floor. "I know he never completely forgave me for screwing up your life but he was my best friend and now…now he's just fucking gone! Just gone!"

Quinn stood and wrapped her arms around Puck's waist and settled her head on his chest and cried with him. Puck gripped onto her tighter and Quinn could feel his tears dripping onto the top of her head. He finally pulled away and wiped his face with the front of his shirt and looked around Finn's bedroom before picking up the metal box and heading out the door. Quinn glanced around again and shut the door behind them and the pair descended the stairs to the living room. Elizabeth ran to Puck and he handed the box to Quinn and picked up his daughter and held her close.

"Thank you both," Finn's mother said. "I just…I can't go in there yet."

"We understand, Mrs. Hudson," Quinn said. "If you need anything else just call us. I'm sure I'll be by some next week."

"Me too," Puck said. "You've got a crack in your driveway. I'll be by to fix it on Tuesday."

Mrs. Hudson nodded and hugged both Puck and Quinn before they left.


	33. Chapter 32

**-Chapter 32-**

Quinn awoke on an unfamiliar and rather uncomfortable couch. It wasn't the spring that was sticking into her back that woke her up, it was her phone ringing with "My Life Would Suck Without You" which meant it was Rachel.

"Hey Rach," Quinn answered sleepily.

"Hey, just wanted to see how you were doing. I didn't get a text from you last night."

"Oh, yeah. Sorry about that. I fell asleep."

Puck came in from his bedroom rubbing his eyes. "Coffee?" he mouthed. Quinn nodded.

"I've got play practice in an hour and I'll probably be there all day but you can still text me if you want, I'll check my phone."

"Sounds good babe. Hold on a sec." Quinn covered the receiver. "Hey Puck, can you grab that white shirt out of Lizzy's backpack for me and put it in the bathroom?" she asked. Puck nodded. Quinn turned her attention back to Rachel. "Sorry. Anyways, when's opening night again?"

"Did…did you just ask Puck to get you a shirt?"

"Yeah."

"Why is Noah at my house so early?"

"I'm at his place." Elizabeth stumbled into the living room and crawled up on Quinn's lap. "Hey there sleepy girl," Quinn said to the toddler. "I bet you slept better than I did. Daddy's apartment smells like pizza, I don't know how you stand it."

"Quinn?"

"Yeah Rach?"

"You're aware that you're currently on the phone with me, Rachel, your girlfriend, right?"

"Yeah."

There was a click and a dial tone and Quinn yanked the phone away from her ear. Quinn mumbled a few choice words under her breath and called Rachel back.

"What?" Rachel answered sharply.

"Did you lose signal or something?"

"I'm in the middle of the city, Quinn. I don't drop calls unless I mean to."

"You want to explain what I said wrong then?" Puck sat a cup of coffee down in front of the blonde and she mouthed thanks to him.

"What's wrong?" he mouthed to her. Quinn shrugged.

"Are you fucking serious, Fabray? Really?"

"Rachel calm down and just tell me what it was I did wrong." Elizabeth jumped off the couch and hit her head on the floor and started crying. "Ugh, hold on! Puck! Puck will you please…" Puck came in from the bedroom and picked up his daughter. Quinn covered the receiver again. "Will you get her breakfast, please? I've got to do damage control for whatever it was I did wrong this time."

"She probably thinks we slept together."

Quinn's eyes widened with the suggestion and she uncovered the receiver. "I did _not_ sleep with Puck!"

"Then why are you at his apartment?"

"We went to Finn's yesterday to get some of his things and when we came back here I was just too exhausted to drive home so I fell asleep on the couch."

Rachel was silent.

"Rachel?"

"I have to go."

"Rachel, I swear to you nothing happened! Puck slept in his room, I slept on this God-awful couch. I probably have the bruises from the springs to prove it!"

"And by 'springs' do you mean 'Noah's teeth'?"

"Rachel, baby, please."

"Don't you 'baby' me, Quinn Fabray!"

"You're being completely irrational! Puck and I spent the afternoon at Finn's! We both cried our eyes out because we were the first ones in his bedroom since he died, getting things out that his mother didn't want to accidentally come across, and you're fucking accusing me of cheating on you? I was fucking _exhausted_, Rachel. I've done nothing but cry and think of you since August and it's only gotten worse in the passed month so don't you _dare_ start accusing me of this!"

"Q?" Puck poked his head in from the kitchen.

"What do you want, Puck?" Quinn screeched.

"I know you're like mad and everything because you don't ever swear but Liz just dropped the f-bomb so you should probably cool it or go to a different room."

Quinn growled and went to Puck's bedroom.

"Believe what you want, Rachel, but I've never even thought about touching anyone but you since the day I told you I loved you."

"Quinn, if I find out…"

"There's nothing to find out. You want to ask Lizzy? She'll tell you. Either that or she'll just start swearing."

"What is Noah teaching her?"

"It wasn't him, it was me. Just now."

"Oh. Well…don't do that."

"I didn't think she could hear me. So…play practice?"

"Yeah. Opening night is in a week and we run for a week after that, finals is two weeks after that."

"Make sure to get me a DVD like you did with the fall play, okay?"

"Of course."

"Rachel, I promise you…"

"I know, Quinn. It's just really hard sometimes, you know? Especially lately after everything that happened. I mean…the other day I was writing an e-mail to one of my professors and I saw Finn's name in my address book…I didn't stop crying for an hour but I won't delete it. No one except Kurt here gets it; everyone in my drama class keeps telling me to use the experience for inspiration like its no big deal. One of them actually told me I was a slacker for taking that week off."

"Oh Rach…"

"You want to know what the worst part is? If it hadn't been for Finn and glee club and you and Elizabeth and all of it in the first place…I'd be just like them. But I'm not. I'm not that cold hearted and I'm not as focused as I used to be. I'm sure if I stayed that I could probably pick it up again but I don't want to. I don't belong here, Quinn."

"I have a feeling you're trying to tell me something."

"I want to come home, Quinn. I want to move to Columbus and go to OSU. I honestly do not want to be here."

"Are you sure about this?"

"You promised no questions. This is my decision."

Quinn sighed. "It is. It's all yours." There was a knock at the door and Quinn growled. "Just a sec. Puck! What could you quite possibly want?"

Puck opened the door and Quinn raised her eyebrows at him.

"Breakfast is done."

"Noah Puckerman…I swear to whatever God you believe in if that is macaroni and cheese I smell I'm going to shave your head."

"She loves mac and cheese!"

"Do you give her that for breakfast every time she's here?"

"Tell him I disapprove!" Rachel squealed. "She needs things with vitamins! Do you give her vitamins? Give her those gummy vitamins."

"Rachel disapproves."

"Shocker."

Quinn's phone beeped and she looked down at the screen to see Jim's cell phone calling. "Rach, Jim is calling me. I'll text you later, okay?"

"Okay, love you."

"Love you, too."

Quinn switched lines to take Jim's call.

"Jim I'm so sorry I didn't call you guys last night to tell you I wasn't coming home."

"It's okay sweetie, we were just worried. Is everything okay?"

"I fell asleep on Puck's couch, I'll be home after breakfast."

"Okay honey, see you later."

Quinn hung up the phone and sighed. She made her way to the small kitchen where Puck was dishing up a serving of macaroni and cheese to Elizabeth. Quinn rolled her eyes and smacked the back of the young man's head. Elizabeth laughed until she could barely breathe.

……………

"Is that everything?" Quinn asked, looking around Rachel's empty dorm room.

Rachel nodded. "Everything but us," the brunette said with a huge smile. "Let's go home, shall we?"

With Elizabeth at Puck's the drive didn't take nearly as long and before they knew it, Jim was waking Quinn and Rachel up from their sleep in the back seat telling them they were home. The pair dragged themselves into the house and didn't even bother changing clothes before they crawled into bed and fell asleep.

The next morning when Quinn fluttered her eyes open she was greeted with a Rachel Berry smile and a kiss.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," Rachel said. "What do you want for breakfast? I'll fix anything you want."

Quinn giggled. "You."

An hour later both girls managed to get out of bed and put clothes on. When Quinn reached for the doorknob she was stopped and Rachel pulled her around. Quinn furrowed her eyebrows at the brunette who had her lower lip clutched between her teeth.

"I'm moving to Columbus," Rachel said.

"I know."

"I want you to come. You and Elizabeth."

"Rachel…I…"

"It's a two hour drive! Noah could still take Elizabeth on weekends or even an alternating joint custody arrangement! And I am sure there are more than qualified childcare providers in Columbus that could take care of Elizabeth while you and I go to school."

"I don't know…"

"Quinn, I want to marry you!" Rachel shrieked.

Quinn's jaw dropped. "Wh-what?"

"I want to marry you someday, Quinn! And I would like it if we lived in the same city…If you agree to the proposal, that is. Not that I am proposing right now, simply informing you of my intent to propose at some point in the future."

"You want to get married?" Quinn was still in absolute disbelief.

"Eventually, yes. I love you and I'm fairly certain you love me unless that's changed since you said it rather loudly just a few minutes ago. I want to marry you and I want you and Elizabeth with me for the rest of my life, Quinn. So please…please come to Columbus with me."

Quinn swallowed hard and looked at the petrified looking brunette with pleading in her eyes and did the only thing she could think of at that moment and stepped forward and captured Rachel's lips in a kiss.

"I love you," the blonde whispered when she pulled away. "Yes…yes to all of it. Everything."

"Everything?"

Quinn nodded and smiled. "Forever, Rachel. Everything…forever."

The day that Quinn thought Rachel would love her "maybe someday" she never expected for it to end up like it did. She didn't expect that "maybe someday Rachel will love me" to turn into "someday Rachel and I will get married". But it did. And "maybe someday" turned into "forever" and forever was everything Quinn ever wanted.

**The End.**


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